A Dish Best Served Cold
by The Wind God
Summary: Harry's betrayal leads to events that will alter the Wizarding World forever. He will stop at nothing to have his revenge, no matter who he has to go through. On hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. J.K. Rowling does. EDIT: I realize that this story starts out very cliché, and it's not so great, but if you give it a chance, I think it gets better. Hopefully. If it's not your cup of tea, that's ok.

A Dish Best Served Cold- Chapter 1

Harry Potter had dealt with hatred many times in his life. He had been the victim of pointless bigotry and abuse at the hands of his guardian, he had faced the school when they believed him responsible for the Chamber of Secrets, and then again when he had been forced to take part in that damnable Tournament. What he had never expected, was to be the one feeling that abhorrence.

He was sitting next to the Sirius, his teeth grinding against each other in barely concealed rage. He was in Gringotts Bank, and was speaking to the goblin that managed his accounts. Sirius had suggested that he come today and claim his place as Lord Potter, because now that Voldemort was back, he would need access to things that most kids couldn't get and he would also need to train. As a Lord, he would be emancipated and, therefore, not fall under the Restriction of Underage Sorcery.

What could possibly make Harry Potter fume like the Hogwarts Express? Betrayal. The two people he had trusted the most in the world, the ones who were supposed to be there for him through thick and thin, had smiled in his face all the while sharpening the dagger they were ready to shove in his back.

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger had been stealing from him. Back in second year, when Harry had allowed Mrs. Weasley to use his vault key to buy his supplies, she hadn't given it back. Being the naïve boy he had at the time, he hadn't thought twice about it. Now, he was finding out that he had lost nearly a half a million galleons.

Ron had stolen the key from his mother and hidden the fact that he had it from anyone else. Being an idiot however, he had let it slip to Hermione one day, who had surprised him by promising not to tell Harry, so long as she got a share. She had also promised to be his girlfriend, just so long as they kept it secret. So, the two of them had begun stealing from him a little at a time so that he wouldn't notice large chunks of money missing. When he failed to mention his funds being low, they took that as a good sign and started taking out more. By the beginning of fourth year, they were comfortable enough to take out large amounts of money and putting them in a joint account that they had opened with their own money, and then put all of the galleons they had stolen into that one.

Harry did not know all of these details, but he had figured out how they had done it. When he had asked why the manager had never notified him earlier, he was made aware of a few things. The first was that the money was almost always removed during holidays of some sort or on a weekend, and it was done by Harry himself. The second was that more recently, some withdrawals had been made with a magical key imprint so the key holder didn't need to show up in person. The bank had sent out a notification of transaction and receipt, but the owl tracks the key, not the owner, so because he didn't have the key, he didn't receive the letter.

Harry, having heard the part about him showing up in person, he was a little vexed, since he had no idea how they would do that other than with Polyjuice potion, for which they didn't have access to the ingredients. He endeavored to find out exactly what was happening. He also asked if anyone else had been benefitting from him, and had been told that Ginny Weasley had gotten a few payments from the Weasley/Granger account, so it was safe to say that she was in on whatever was going on.

Harry's blood was boiling, and his magic screamed for release. He wanted to find the fools that dared to cross him and rip them apart. There was something that few people knew about Harry, and those that did thought it a good thing because they viewed it as protectiveness.

Harry Potter was highly possessive. When applied to his friends, it looked like he cared deeply for them. In truth, he would never let them go unless he had no more use for them. His vow to overcome Voldemort had sprung from the fact that the man had taken his parents, almost taken his at-the-time friends, and finally, had stolen Harry's blood. For that, he would never forgive the ugly lizard-lipped son of a bitch.

"Take all of the money from their vault and put it back. Immediately." The goblin nodded with a smirk on his face and wrote a note before summoning another goblin and handing it to him. SilverKnuckle, the goblin in front of them said, "I added Ginny Weasley's name to the list, but I told them to make it look like the Weasley/Granger vault took it back first." Harry grinned a wicked grin and loosened his grip as he relaxed a little. Just knowing that he was getting back what was his made him happier.

SilverKnuckle continued with business knowing that his client wouldn't want to be here all day. "We will need a blood sample for our testing to prove your lineage. Standard procedure, I'm sure you understand." Harry nodded. "Here is a ritual dagger that will cut with zero pain and seal the cut almost immediately after the blood is released." Harry ran his thumb over the blade, and his blood seemed to stick to the blade without dripping. It was odd, but it was so that a mess wasn't created. When he was done, he handed the blade back to the goblin and looked at his thumb to see that it was cut-free.

The goblin moved the red edge to a piece of magical parchment and chanted some words in Gobbledegook before touching the blade to the paper. There was a small flash of blue light and when it was gone there was a gasp from the account manager.

"What?" asked Harry. "What's going on? Is something wrong?" He was somewhat worried because he would need this to go right if he was to gain his revenge.

The short being shook his head with a bemused smile on his face and said, "No, Mr. Potter. For you, everything has just gone so right." He took the parchment and handed it over. There were three names on it. The first two were expected. Not the third.

Potter. From his father.  
Black. From his grandmother.  
Beaufoy. Who?

"Who are the Beaufody's?" asked Harry. Sirius gasped at the question, snatching the sheet away from him to look at it.

"No way. It's not possible!" He looked up at the Goblin. "Is this for real? Do you know what this means?" The goblin nodded before responding.

"I am very aware of what this could mean for not only the future, but also our young friend here."

Harry was looking back and forth between the two and was getting quickly annoyed with the situation. "Someone tell me what the hell is going on! Who are they, and how am I related to them?"

Sirius sighed, sat back, and got ready to tell a little story.

"Back in the time of King Arthur and Merlin, there was a family that was not as powerful in individual magical strength as Merlin, but almost. However, because there were many of them, if they had opposed Merlin, they could easily have killed him and Arthur, taking over the kingdom. They didn't though and lived in peace with them. They weren't the best of friends, considering the Beaufoy's tended toward the Dark Arts, but both parties left each other well enough alone. It wasn't until Arthur's half-sister, Morgana, tried to overthrow him, that things became bad.

"When she waged her war against him, she attempted to recruit the Beaufoy's to her side, because of their power and their unique ability. You see, they had the power to kill or heal someone simply by making contact with them." Harry's eyes widened greatly at this revelation. "The magnitude of the effect was directly proportional to the amount of magic expended. To kill someone, they had to spend half of their magic at once, and that was to kill them by heart attack. To cause more pain, would take more magic. This power was called The Touch.

"So, when they said no to Morgana's offers, which were more like demands, she had her followers destroy the Beaufoy's. They were believed to have all been dead. The only remnants were a branch of the family that was born without The Touch and changed their name after the extermination of the Beaufoy's. This family changed its name to Malfoy."

Harry nearly fell out of his chair in surprise, but managed to stay in his seat. His mind was racing with the possibilities of this revelation. "So does this mean I might have The Touch? That would be so great."

"Yes Mr. Potter, it would." SilverKuckle agreed. "But there is more to it than that. Because the Malfoy's were never officially disconnected from the rule of the Beaufoy family, if an heir exists, the Malfoy name falls under the command of the Beaufoy heir. Your command." As the implication set in, Harry's face gained a wicked grin. Oh, he had so many plans for the family of Platinum blonds.

Sirius spoke up. "Is there any clue about which family this came down through? Was it Lily's or James' family?" The experienced goblin in front of them gave a shake of his head and said, "It's difficult to be sure, but if I had to hazard a guess, I would the Potter line. Young Mr. Potter's mother was muggleborn with no sign of her being from a line of squibs. It wouldn't surprise me if the fleeing Beaufoy changed his name and married into the Potter family to survive."

Harry, wondering about something said, "So does that mean my dad had The Touch?" Sirius said no, because he knew that was true, but he couldn't figure out why, and so again looked to the seemingly endless source of information.

"I believe that when the Beaufoy married into the Potter family, The Touch went dormant, because while the Potter's were strong, they were nowhere near the level of the Beaufoy's. So, it is likely that the skill has been slowly but surely increasing the power levels of the Potter family, waiting for a child to be born that could unlock it. Your own levels at birth would have been sufficient, but only barely. However, because of the Prophecy about you and Voldemort, along with the failed attack on you as a child, your magical core was boosted."

Harry looked at him confused while Sirius looked sad. Harry decided to inquired, "What prophecy?"

The goblin looked like he had just heard an interesting joke, and asked, "They haven't told you yet?" Harry shook his head no and looked at his Godfather who sighed.

"I was going to tell you later, after you had some training in protecting your mind. We can't afford to allow anyone know the whole thing. Voldemort only knows half, and if he finds out the rest, it would be disastrous. Would you be willing to wait just a few more weeks until we can get you trained in the mind arts?" Sirius was serious for once in his life and Harry decided that despite the fact that no one had told him, he could wait.

"I'm very unhappy that this was kept from me, and you had better hope I don't find out anything else has been hidden from me." His bright green eyes seemed to glow for a moment, but that was all the SilverKnuckle needed.

"There it is! That's the glow that signifies a possessor of The Touch. We can't be absolutely positive, but there is a book in the Beaufoy Vaults that should tell you how to determine if it's there, and then how to unlock it." They then went about signing all the proper documentation for the emancipation and lordship, and soon Harry was an adult in the eyes of the law.

Harry was then led out of the office, along with Sirius toward the carts that would take him down to his new vaults. As the cart was flying down the tracks at maximum speed, his hair whipping around his face, Harry was thinking about this turn of events. '_You think you can double-cross me? You may have been my friends once, but nobody takes what is mine and gets away with it. You'll learn. You'll see. I'll have my revenge. Nothing and no one is going to stop me.' _

Harry was lost in his thoughts as the cart sped deep into the bowels of the earth, leading him to the beginning of his new life.

A/N: This is a Ron/Herm/Ginny betrayal story, with DD not being the one responsible for it. Let me know what you think. I'd appreciate the feedback. Again, I know some of you will be tired of reading a story with the same sort of formula, but I try to get away from that as soon as I can. Thanks again for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Don't own anything. J.K. Rowling does.

A/N: Okay. This is the beginning of fifth year. A reviewer mentioned that the Beaufoy's died to easily for being so powerful. The ability takes a lot of power, and Morgana had a lot of followers, tempted to her side with the promise of some of her power. She also was crazy, so if someone refused to be her ally, she would want to wipe them out before they were a problem later. I'll try to be clearer in futer chapters. I hope everyone likes the story so far. On with the next chapter.

A Dish Best Served Cold- 2

Sirius counted himself an extremely lucky man. First, he had gotten into Gringotts without any incident due to a simply reversed transfiguration that McGonagall had been kind enough to put on him. As a hamster, he had been small enough to fit into Harry's pocket until they got in to see the account manager. When Harry had asked Gringotts standing on Sirius Black, the goblin had said that they believed him innocent, because Peter Pettigrew still showed living status in their records. Then he said that even if they thought him guilty, they wouldn't turn him over to the ministry, so long as there was business to be had. He needn't mention their everyday dealings with the Voldemort's henchman for Harry to get the idea. It was all about the money. So Harry had pulled the hamster out, put him on the chair, and released the spell. Being surrounded by magic, he didn't need to worry about the ministry tracking the wand.

On top of all of that,Sirius was witness to the return of the great and mythical Beaufoy line. Which would return to greatness in his godson. What more could a man ask for? Well, actually, a hot babe or two would be nice, but he wasn't going to push it.

They reached the Beaufoy vaults and were prevented from going any further by a large green dragon. It had been lying down and possibly sleeping, but as they approached it stood upright and ready to guard its treasure. SilverKnuckle approached the dragon and spoke quickly in Gobbledegook. The dragon roared out in what seemed to be anger and swatted at the smaller creature. The goblin scuttled quickly back to where Sirius and Harry stood.

"He doesn't believe me I guess. Since I can't understand him, it's hard to tell, but I do know that he won't let us in."

"What did you tell him?" Harry asked. He was concerned that the goblins had no control over their own security. He would be upset if he was denied a chance at this new power that was so close he could taste it.

"I said that the heir to the vault had been found and needed access. He tried to swat me like a common fly." The goblin was both flustered and annoyed at being treated in such a way.

As Harry looked at the dragon, he notices something about the way it was moving. It seemed very…serpentine. Almost snake like. He had an idea and decided to give it a try.

~_Hello. What is your name?~_

_~Ah, a parselmouth! It's been years since I encountered one with your talent. Come closer young one!_

Harry stepped closer to the large dragon and the creature leaned over to sniff him. The breath was warm like a summer breeze, with a faint odor of rotting meat. Not the nicest smell in the world, but hey, at least it wasn't fire.

~_So the little gnome wasn't lying, eh? You are the heir. I can smell the power in you. Tell me, child, what will you do with this power? And be sure to tell me the truth. I will know!~_

Harry thought about it for a second, before responding, ~_I will change the world.~_

_~Oh? Into what? Paradise, perhaps? Or hell on earth? Which will be?~_

_~It will be what I want it to be! If it is hell on earth for those who betray me or those who stand in the way of my revenge, well then that is of their own making, now isn't it?~_

The dragon looked at him for a moment and then said, ~_I knew I recognized you. You're that kid who had to participate the Tournament aren't you? Had to face the Horntail, you did. You act just like she does.~ _ Harry was shocked but then realized that he was looking at a Welsh Green. Thinking back to the Triwizard, he realized that there was one of those in the competition. This must have been the one.

~_I thought you would have gone back to Romania. How did you end up here?~ _

The dragon gave what could only be described as a laugh. ~_The reserve in_ _Romania is a breeding program, and I'm past my prime as far as potential mating material is concerned. So, when my job was done they sent me here. Anyway, this job isn't so bad, but it's good to know that the Beaufoy power is reentering the world. My grandfather knew a Beaufoy, and they got along quite well. I'm happy to have been here to have met the first one back. Good luck kid.~ _

With that, the dragon stepped aside and nodded as Harry gave his thanks. When Harry reached the vault doors, he looked back to where Sirius and the Goblin stood and waved them over, not knowing how to get in. SilverKnuckle pulled out a key and gave it to Harry.

"Only a Beaufoy can open the vault door. Many of the older vaults are like this, since the security was less advanced in the older days. Here, you will need to put blood on the key before unlocking the door." He handed Harry the ritual knife that had been used before, and Harry swiped his thumb again, before putting the blood onto the key. He gave the blade back and then put the key into the lock. Before he could turn, he heard large bolts sliding open. It went on for what seemed like ten minutes but was in reality only thirty seconds.

When it was done, the door creaked open on its own and a sucking noise was made as air rushed into the room to equalize the pressure. Harry pushed the door open and stepped inside. Torches along the wall lit the room that was about the size of his trust vault. He thought it was kind of small, but SilverKnuckle explained before he could ask. "It would have been larger as time went on, but because they died so long ago, it is nowhere near as large as the Black or Potter vaults. Besides, the amount of gold in hear would have made them the richest family at the time because of the value of gold. The real value is in that book right there." He pointed to the book on a pedestal in the middle of the room.

Harry was busy looking around the room. The right wall was covered with bookshelves, full of books. On the left wall were weapons of all sorts, including swords, daggers, and staves of all shapes and sizes. The ones farthest from the door were in the best condition, and seemed to have an almost unearthly glow about them. Harry wouldn't be surprised if they had some magical properties, but he would have to explore that possibility later.

Harry walked toward the book at the center of the room and stopped in front of it. Looking down he read the title, _'Herein Lays the Power of God'._ He reached his hand toward the book, and laid his hand down on the cover. The moment he did, a bright light engulfed both him and the book. He felt like he had been hit with a freight train. He heard Sirius scream, "HARRY!"

His last thought was, '_Damn that hurt.' _He was out before he hit the floor.

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Harry stepped onto Platform 9 ¾ and paused to take in his surroundings. He saw many families saying goodbye to their children, the most emotional being the parents of the first years who were going away from home for the first time. He saw the Malfoy's, and laughed inside. He saw many of the other Slytherin families and thought about the choices they would have to make in the coming years. He saw many Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Gryffindors, all meeting up with friends after the long summer.

Finally he spotted the group he had been looking for. The Weasleys. Hermione was with them. He headed in that direction and as he approached, Hermione spotted him. He had his eyes on her face the whole way, and because of that, when she turned and saw him, he caught a look of distaste that lasted only half a second before she schooled her face. She yelled out "Harry!" and ran toward him to give him a giant hug. This bothered him. He knew it was to keep up the charade, and wouldn't let her touch him.

Just before she got to him he stepped to the side, as she flew past him, and continued walking toward the Weasleys. She stumbled, but didn't fall, and turned around to look at his back. She was fuming inside, but managed to keep a straight face. Ron however, started shouting at him like a giant bafoonish oaf. "What the hell, Harry!? Why did you ignore her like that you great prat!? What's your problem?"

Harry acted as though he hadn't heard a word the boy was saying and turned to Mrs. Weasley and gave her a hug and said, "Hello. Mrs. Weasley. I've missed your cooking this summer, would you mind sending me some at school to help me get my fix?" He had found out, after thorough investigation, that she had nothing to do with the activities of her two youngest. She held a special place in his heart for treating him like family all these years.

Molly Weasley was confused by his behavior, but flattered and happy that he wanted her food and said, "Of course Harry dear. I'd be happy to send you something from time to time. Although I must say, you like you've filled out quite well, and oh look how well dressed you are. Where did you get such nice clothes? Oh, and look at your hair, it's so long. You're turning into another Bill." Harry laughed and assured her that it wouldn't get any longer than this. It came down to between his shoulder blades right now and pulled back into a loose braid that ran from the lower back of his head, down to the end. This braid looked a bit girly he realized, but it served two purposes.

Harry was wearing an outfit that he had taken a shining to since shopping during the summer. He had mostly the same clothes in different colors so that while he had some variety, it would be a similar look. He had on black dockers with black shoes that while not full dress shoes, could be comfortable and appropriate as both formal and athletic shoes. On his upper body he wore a white silk shirt, with a black vest over the top. He also wore a black trench coat that came to his calves, and seemed to flutter lightly as if in some perpetual breeze. Inside the sleeves, he had a top of the line dragon skin wand holder with anti-summoning charms. On his hands, he had black leather gloves that fit his hands perfectly as if the leather was a second skin.

Harry started to give her a very quick rundown of his trip to the bank and how he spent his summer while avoiding mentioning too much about training. He had shaken Mr. Weasley's hand and given the twins a pat on the shoulder as he was telling his tale. Had he been looking at Ron, Ginny, and Hermione, he would have seen them blanch at mention of the bank. Luckily for them, he didn't mention anything. However, they gave each other a look that said they would check the account at first convenience.

After finishing the story, he said a quick goodbye to the Weasley parents and the twins, and headed off to find a compartment without acknowledging the two youngest Weasleys or Ginny. He ignored Ron's shouts as he walked away. He had better things to do.

It had been a long summer, but a very productive one for Harry Potter. After he had passed out because of the book, Sirius had taken him back to headquarters. He had slept for three days, and had actually called for Poppy to check on him. Despite her pestering for answers on what had happened, he was tight lipped, and she eventually confirmed that he had simply fallen asleep. She wasn't sure why he was sleeping for so long, but she knew he wasn't completely comatose.

Inside Harry's head, he was organizing his mind. The Touch required absolute intent when using its power, so his mind couldn't afford to have such disorganization if he was going to focus on healing or destroying something. So during his extended sleep, Harry went through all of the memories he had of his early life with the Dursleys, his years at Hogwarts, and every other thing he could possibly consider a whole memory, rather than a random moment in time.

What Harry didn't realize is that doing this put him steps ahead in his future training. Not only for Occlumency, but also for more advanced magics which require a measure of mental clarity for the proper effect to take place. It was one of the many things he had learned over the summer. To think there was so much more to be learned. His reminiscing ended as he reached his destination.

He reached his compartment and unshrunk his trunk before putting it under his seat. He locked the door and closed the curtain so that he wouldn't be disturbed. He knew that Hermione and Ron had been made Prefects, but didn't really care. He had better things to do than chase after curfew-breakers.

He waited a few minutes to be sure that they were in the prefect meeting before leaving the compartment. He headed down the train, passing many compartment and drawing many looks. Some were from jealous guys, other from girls that looked like they wanted to jump his bones. He was smirking on the inside at the thought of the sway he held simply because of looks. It was ridiculous. But he wasn't complaining.

He got to the door he was looking for, and raised his hand, knocking with one knuckle. _.Tap. _He stood facing out toward the hallway while leaning against the doorframe. Whoever answered wouldn't have a good look at his face. The voices inside lowered for a moment, and then the door opened revealing Goyle.

"Watcha wan'?"

"Get me Malfoy." Goyle was about to speak again, but he was cut off. "Now!" The great big monkey turned and said, "Draco. Someone wan's to talk to ya." He moved away from the door, switching places with the platinum blond.

"Who the hell is bothering me now? What the fuck do you wan-…POTTER!?" Harry had turned to look at him when he started blathering on. "Geez, when the hell did you stop looking like a ragamuffin? I see you finally decided to live up to you noble lineage, huh?"

Harry just leveled a glare at him. He wasn't in the mood for any childish games and said, "Follow me, we have something to talk about." He started to walk away but when Draco didn't follow he stopped and looked back.

"I'm not going anywhere with you, nothing you have to say to me is important enough." Harry could not help but think that the Malfoy heir would never change in his cocky ways, but he had to take a chance if he wanted his plan to work.

Harry walked back over to the boy and lifted his hand. The blond caught sight of something shiny and looked closer. His face immediately shifted into a look of amazement. He gasped in surprise.

"Holy shit! Is that-?"

"Yes it is. Follow me. Now!" Harry said in a tone that brooked no argument. He turned and walked away as he heard the boy say. "I'll be back in a bit."

A/N: Okay. End of that chapter. Let me know what you think please. Thank you for the Reviews for last chapter, they helped me immensely. Updates won't always be this fast, I just had time off and it still took me most of the day to write this. I'll try my best though. Bye for now!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does.

A/N: Thank you so much for all of the reviews so far, they mean so much to me. I'm glad you're liking the story so far. Here is the next chapter.

A Dish Best Served Cold- 3

Harry motioned Draco into the compartment before him, and once the blond was inside, Harry closed and locked the door before closing the blinds. He felt Malfoy's wand poke him in the neck.

"You think you're so cool, eh Potter? You can just order me around and make me look like a fool in front of my friends? Give me one good reason I shouldn't put you in your place." The Slytherin prefect was hoping that this tactic worked and would give him a leg up in this conversation. With Potter wearing the Beaufoy ring, he couldn't afford show any weakness what-so-ever. He had to control this conversation from the start, or things could go downhill quickly.

Harry turned slowly to face his fellow fifth year. He wanted to laugh in Draco's face at the obvious posturing. This boy thought he could control this meeting, but he was severely mistaken, as he was about to find out. Faster than Malfoy could react, Harry brought his left hand up and placed it against Draco's wrist. He felt a tug on his magic as the tendons in Malfoy's wrist suddenly snapped.

The wand hit the floor as the blond fell to his knees screaming out in pain. His hand was hanging limply from his arm, drooping like a dead flower. "WHAT THE FUCK POTTER!? What the hell did you do to me!?" He had tears in his eyes and was biting his lip from the shear agony. The pain was pulsing up his arm and down into his fingers. All from a simple touch.

"What the hell did I do? I showed you who had the power here Draco. You actually believed that sticking your wand in my neck and threatening me would give you an advantage?" He laughed out loud for the first time that day. "I'll let you in on a little secret. You have no power over me. This ring on my hand," he held up the gold ring with an onyx raven on it, "is not just for show. This signifies my place as head of the Beaufoy family. You know what that means don't you?"

Draco just nodded. Of course he knew. Every Malfoy was raised knowing that they had come from the Beaufoy family. From a young age, they were taught that the Malfoys were better than the Beaufoy because they had been the branch to survive. At the same time though, there had always been tales of possible survivors and how bad it would be for them if the line was brought to power once more. It would be bad.

Harry picked up Malfoy's wand from the floor and said, "Now. Let's have a little chat shall we?" He sat down on one bench and motioned for the blond to take the other. Draco got up on to the seat and glared at the dark haired boy who had put him in so much pain.

"What matters the most to you Malfoy? Your family? Your pureblood way of life? Your extravagant lifestyle? Tell me, Draco, what is most important to you?" Harry was asking these questions to see which angle he would need to approach this from. Each response had a necessary counter response, and he had to be careful. Of course he had a preferred reaction, but you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men.

Draco was looking at Harry, trying to figure out this game. '_What is he playing at? What does he want me to say? Damn it! This is so infuriating. When did he become so calm and collected? He used to be so emotional so I always had the upper hand. This sucks!' _ These were Draco's thoughts. Of course, with Harry's new training in the mind arts, he was able to pick up a couple of the ideas. They weren't clear to him, but he got the gist.

"I'm waiting Draco. I don't have all day." Harry was getting impatient, but this feeling was balanced with his amusement at the boy's predicament.

Draco sighed before saying. "Well, these are shitty choices. However, if I had to pick one, I would say my lifestyle. I would miss my family, but I could marry another pureblood if I have the money. My parents wouldn't miss me all that much; they're too busy with other things." Draco didn't need to say the Dark Lord for Harry to know what those other things were. Lately the young Slytherin had been feeling more and more detached from his family, as if he was now second class. "The Pureblood way of life is accessable through my money. So, if I had to choose one, it would be the money."

Harry couldn't believe his luck. Of all the options, this was the easiest to work with. He had been sure that Malfoy would be loyal to his family, but the boy had proved yet again that money was more important than people. It disgusted him.

"If you want me to fix your hand now, and if you want to have any money to your name when you leave Hogwarts, you'll do exactly as I say. Do you understand?" Harry gained a glint in his eyes that warned him that he didn't really have an option. He sighed and just nodded. He was screwed.

"Good. Now…"

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Harry entered the Great Hall, his stride confident and sure, drawing the eyes of most of the people already seated in there. There were people outside still, plus the first years that had to be sorted. He enjoyed the fact that everyone was watching him. One of the things he had learned over the summer during his studies had been that if all eyes are on you, someone else is going to be able to do something unseen.

He moved over toward the Gryffindor table and saw Ron and Hermione sitting about three quarters of the way down the table near the teachers. That was the area most of the prefects were, and they signified the start of the blank area for the new students. They looked at him and waved him over, seemingly having gotten over his cold shoulder earlier. However, he gave them another. Ignoring their wave, he walked to Neville who was sitting relatively alone near the main doors, and sat down with him.

This was missed by only the most oblivious students. Everyone else had been witness to an official shift in power. Without the support of the Boy-Who-Lived, chances were high that Granger and Weasley would not be given the leeway they had had before when it came to their attitude. Hermione with her holier-than-thou mind-set, and Weasley with his Inverse Pureblood stance when it came to people disagreeing with his viewpoints. For the more astute observer, they knew that those two would be reaping what they had sowed very soon.

Neville was surprised by the fact that Harry had chosen to sit next to him rather than Ron and Hermione, but not wanting to push his very little luck, accepted it with gratefulness and greeted Harry as he normally would. They spoke for a few minutes about their summer, before the Creevey brothers made their entrance. Colin took the seat next to Harry while Dennis sat across from his brother. Then, Lavender and Parvati, wanting to be close to the new hottest guy at Hogwarts moved over to sit across from him and Neville. By the time Ginny had come in with the people she had travelled with, the area around Harry was already packed and she disappointedly walked farther up the table to find a seat.

The Sorting had gone on as normal, with Gryffindor gaining the most new members with 10, and Slytherin gaining the least with 6. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff both had gained 9 members. During dinner, Harry had caught snippets of the conversation between Lavender and Parvati, and had been amazed the sheer quantity of gossip that passed their lips. However, it gave him a wonderful idea.

After everyone had eaten, Dumbledore prepared to make his annual speech and had just started speaking when-

"Hem hem…" A large sweaty toad like woman stood and interrupted the Headmaster. Immediately, most of the student population disliked her. Not only did they like Professor Dumbledore, but it was also extremely rude. The Transfiguration teacher looked at her as if she had just said that magic didn't exist.

"This year," she said in a sickly sweet voice, "I have been chosen to take over as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, appointed personally by the Minister. The standards here have been found sorely lacking. After all, three different teachers who attacked students, one of whom was an imposter, and the fourth teacher was a dangerous beast." This gained a chorus of boos from many of the students, and Harry narrowed his eyes, wishing he had laser vision to burn the woman alive.

After the noise settled down, she went on to talk about how there would be new changes in the school so that Hogwarts would be up to par with the Ministry designed curriculum. While many students and teachers looked alarmed, the Headmaster was perfectly calm as if he didn't expect for anything at all to change.

Then she got to the interesting part. Voldemort.

"As many of you may have heard, there are some radicals in the Wizarding world claiming the You-Know-Who has returned from the dead. These people are delusional. No one can come back from the dead. It's impossible." At this point, many of the eyes swiveled to Harry to see his reaction. After all, he was one of those 'delusional' people. He simply sat there in his seat with half lidded eyes and a lop-sided smirk. Dumbledore then spoke up for the first time since being interrupted. "Now, Dolores, you don't mean to tell me I'm 'delusional' do you?" Realizing her mistake, she started sputtering and trying to back track. Dumbledore continued, "I will of course admit that I have always been a bit eccentric, and perhaps with old age forgetful now and then, but I certainly do not count myself among those considered 'delusional'."

The usually genial man had become serious and everyone could hear it in his voice. He wasn't a happy camper.

Albus Dumbledore prided himself on his intelligence and mental prowess, and to be called 'delusional' by some over inflated gopher from the Ministry did not heighten his feelings of friendship toward this woman. "Perhaps it would be best, Madam Umbridge, if I could finish my speech and send the students off to bed. They look tired." Without waiting for a response from the blob of a woman, he continued on, speaking about the normal things, such as banned products and curfews. Miss Toady gave up and sat back down all the while glowering. Even Snape had a sneering smirk on his face that showed his disdain for the woman, and his satisfaction at her dismissal.

After the Headmaster was done speaking, he sent the children off to bed. It had been an exciting dinner, with the new dynamic in Gryffindor, Harry's new look, and now this new teacher. He could tell it would be an interesting year.

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Harry had just entered the common room and was talking to Neville about the different classes they were taking and what careers they might like to pursue. He had been half way across the room trying to get to the stairs when he heard a familiar voice yell out, "Hey, Harry! Why are you ignoring us? What's the big idea?" He and Neville had paused, and Neville had turned to see Ron stomping his way over to Harry, red faced with a deep scowl.

Harry continued walking after a second, but suddenly felt a hand on his left shoulder that spun him around. He planted his foot, pivoted, and drove his fist right into Weasley's stomach. The boy dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes, hunched over gripping his belly.

He looked up at Harry in anger and surprise with tears at the corner of his eyes. He didn't seem to be taking a breath, so Harry leaned over and gave him a hard slap on the back with prompted him to suck in a big breath of air, before puking all over the carpet. This elicited sounds of disgust from the large crowd watching the confrontation.

Harry looked down at the boy and said, "Touch me again, and you'll lose the offending body part." He raised his eyes to look at the rest of the people in the common room. "Any friend of his is an enemy of mine. The same applies to the know-it-all beaver." He pointed to Hermione. Before leaving up the stairs, he looked to Ron again and said, "I don't know who you think you are laying your hands on a Lord and soon to be member of the Wizengamot, but if you're not careful, you'll find your life very unpleasant." Looking back at the room one more time he said, "Have a good night everyone."

He headed up the stairs with Neville following him and took the bed farthest to the right. Neville took the bed next to his, and when Dean and Seamus came in they took the two across from the door, leaving only the bed on the far left for Weasley. Hedwig flew into the window by his bed to greet him after the long flight. He spent a few minutes with her, stroking her feathers, before sending her off to the owlery. He then got into bed and secured his trunk with security spells, before closing and putting security spells on the curtains also. He didn't want that red headed fool to get in any funny ideas.

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Harry Potter could say without a doubt that Dolores Umbridge was one of the most dislikable people he had ever met in his life. She was so far up the Minister's ass that she had become the shit that infected this society. The first problem he had had with her was her apparent dislike of magical creatures. She kept making snide remarks about how their education had been lax due to being taught by a filthy beast like Remus.

Then she had informed them that they would not be using wands in this class, but rather working solely on theory. The class had groaned at this but had quieted under the threat of detention. Hermione had been outraged and had argued that they needed practice to face the dangers in the real world, which was answered with a "What dangers?"

Hermione had responded that Voldemort was out there which had gotten her a nights worth of dentention. She had then looked to Harry for support.

Sighing he said, "As loathe as I am to agree with that goody-two shoes over there, I too must say that Voldemort is a severe threat. And Umbridge, be careful what verbage you use to describe me next time you disagree with something I have to say. The Potter House doesn't take insult lightly."

Toady McToaderton was fuming at that point and had ranted and raved for five minutes about disrespect and how those that disagreed with the Ministry would find themselves in deep trouble, after which she took 50 points and gave him two weeks of detention starting the next night. She didn't say it, but she wanted some alone time with the boy to teach him proper respect. He simply smiled and said he would be there.

After class, Ron was upset at Harry for losing them so many points already. "Way to go Potter, the year's just started and already we're in negative figures! So much for us winning the House cup this year." Neville, encouraged by his friend's new attitude responded.

"Shut up Ron! You just sat there like a giant numbskull. At least he spoke the truth. It's good to know that when you're faced with difficulties, you look to the bookworm for help." Hermione, enraged stepped forward to slap Neville talking like that about the two of them. Before she could hit him though, Lavender caught the girl's wrist.

"Keep your hands to yourself, bitch. It would be unfortunate if the school were to find out about some your stranger habits now wouldn't it?" The Gossip Queen's look was fierce and it told Hermione that the girl wasn't fooling around. Granger had blanched at the mention of some of her habits and immediately jerked her hand back and took off in the direction of the common room. Ron followed her wondering what kind of habits would provoke that reaction.

Neville was extremely grateful for the girls help, thanking her sincerely. They both blushed a bit. Harry thought he could see the makings of a relationship here, which was good. He would need Lav. to be loyal if his plan was to work. He would wait a little longer before bringing it up.

They left to go have lunch before heading to their next class. Harry hoped the rest of the day would be better than it had been, and since he had Transfiguration and Charms, he would be willing to bet big money on it.

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**The Next Evening**

McGonagall was grading papers after a long day of classes. She had just finished grading the first year papers, which she always took care of first, because they were the most time consuming. She had just opened the folder with all of the fourth year papers when there was a frantic knocking at her door. She got up saying, "I'm coming, just a moment." The frantic pace didn't stop, so she moved a little more quickly. When she reached the door she pulled it open quickly to reveal a very out of breath Harry Potter.

Harry was exhausted. He was leaning against the door frame and had been knocking furiously. When she opened the door he looked distressed and said, "Professor…. Something wrong…. Umbridge…"

"Calm down, Potter, calm down. Take a deep breath." He did as she told him. "Now, what's the matter, Harry?"

"I went to my detention at the scheduled time, and when I got there, I knocked, but the door popped open. I went in and I found her by her desk." Harry breathing had slowed so he could talk, but not by much.

"Found her? What do you mean you found her? What's wrong with her?" McGonagall was getting worried. Potter usually didn't look this worked up over things.

"She was on the floor, so I went over to her, but…" He paused, getting choked up. "Professor, I think she's dead!"

McGonagall was shocked now and told Harry to come inside the classroom while she got help. She took off in the direction of her fireplace to floo to Umbridge's room. As she floo'd away, he sank into a seat and had anyone been around to see it, they would have seen a strange glint in his eyes.

A/N: Okay. There's another chapter. Hope you liked it. Let me know what was good or bad. Like I said yesterday, updates won't always be this fast, because I go back to work tomorrow, which means I'll only have one day off instead of five during a week. See ya!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Mmmm, Nothing do I own. Powerful in the force, this author is not.

A/N: I had a review asking about Hermione's life debt to Harry. The only possibility I can think of is in S.S. where they save her from the bathroom. Thing is though, even though it was Harry's idea to go find her and save her, Ron actually cast the spell. But no, she doesn't own _anyone _a life debt in my story. Thank you oh so very much for all of the many reviews. It is inspiring me to keep writing. Now, on with the next chapter.

A Dish Best Served Cold- 4

Back in the common room, completely unaware of what was playing out across the castle Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger were having a heated whisper fight in a darkened corner of the room about how they would get back the money they had lost. After hearing all of the different things Harry had been saying and the way he had been acting, they suspected that he had found out about their theft. They were right. The account had been drained. Even Ginny had come to them saying that some of her money had disappeared. She had gone into a rage when she had found out what had happened, but there wasn't really anything she could do without admitting to being a party to theft.

"Listen to me, Ronald! If you ever want to touch my body in any way ever again, you will find some way to get more money. I don't care if you have to sell dragon pills and whimsy whips to bring in gold. You'll do it! Is that clear?" Hermione was past caring if selling drugs was even moral or logical. She had grown used to the idea that if she needed something, the money was there for her to spend and would be there for when she finished school. She had never planned to keep Weasley around once school was done. He was going to have an unfortunate accident of some sort and she would be left will all of the money. Then, she would change her name and disappear to Europe where she would start a new life.

Of course, these plans had all been made in case Harry died during the final battle. If he didn't, well then she would transfer the gold to a Swiss Magic Bank where it would be out the reach of Goblins. Those greedy little creatures. If she was still friend's him and he was single, well then she would try to seduce him and get her hands on more money.

All of these thoughts had started after they had started taking money. She had never needed contingency plans and had never been a money grubbing whore before, but before didn't really matter, did it? It was now that was important.

Ron was getting tired of being bossed around. "You know what? Why don't you come up with an idea? I'm the one always finding ways to keep the money coming in; I mean it was me that got you the money in the first place. How about you contribute something for once, huh?"

The bushy-haired girl was angry that he would speak to her like that, but decided to give in just this once, especially since it gave her the opportunity to argue another option she had favored as a back-up plan. "Well if you insist! I think we should consider Percy's offer."

"Oh, not that shit again!" Ron was tired of hearing about this plan. It was not only very risky, considering the man they would help had been losing political power, but he also didn't like Percy and didn't want to work the uptight dickhead.

"Hey! You told me to come up with the idea, and right now, this is all we've got to work with. He promised to pay us handsomely for our services and help us get a foot in the door as far as jobs with the Ministry are concerned. They even offered for private tutors to visit Hogsmeade to help us for the OWL's" Ron looked defeated and Hermione was glad, because she wanted to start getting that money back soon. Had you asked her if she had become obsessed, she would deny it, but she would also deny that she was going slightly crazy as well.

"What about Umbridge? Did you forget that you would have to work with her? You didn't seem to like her today in class." Ron asked raising an eyebrow, wondering how she would respond. She surprised him by laughing.

"You mean that little performance I put on about He-who-must-not-be-named returning? That was all planned. She came to me after breakfast just after you had to run back up here to get your books." Ron looked shocked at what she was saying. He almost wanted to believe she was lying so she wouldn't look like a fool. But he was smart to keep that thought to himself. "She told me that she had noticed how Harry was treating a once friend who had done so much for him and that she sympathized. She then explained her plan for getting him into detention, where she would use a Blood Quill to make him see the error of his ways."

"A Blood Quill? Is she crazy!? Those things are illegal!" Ron was really having trouble now. It just seemed too good to be true. Hermione shushed him before continuing.

"I know they are, and I told her so. Do you know what she said? She said that they weren't illegal if the Minister approved it. So you see, she is on our side, the Minister is on our side, and right now, Harry Potter will be getting the punishment he deserves, whether he was telling the truth or not. I, of course, spent my detention sipping tea and discussing other ways to get back at that green eyed devil we used to call a friend." Hermione's voice was full of venom as she spoke, proving to Ron that he should be careful not to double cross her in the future.

Ron leaned forward eager to hear what they had come up with. "So, what did the two of you come up with?"

She gave an evil grin. Or what she thought was an evil grin. It looked pretty out of place on her unimposing face. "Well…"

She spent the next hour telling Ron all about the different things they had in store for the Boy-Who-Wouldn't-Live-Much-Longer. Hermione thought it was a funny name.

It wasn't.

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Across the castle, in the Transfiguration classroom, Harry was sitting at a desk trying to recover some energy. It was the first time he had used his ability to that scale, and was surprised at how draining it was. The book wasn't joking when it said to use it sparingly. He needed to start using the exercises in the book more often to help deal with the strain. This couldn't take away from the pure glee he was feeling at the idea that the bitch was out of the way, at the same time eliminating the eyes and ears that the Minister had in Hogwarts.

Harry couldn't stand the Minister. Ever since the Triwizard Tournament, Cornelius Fudge had been actively giving statements to the _Daily Prophet _claiming Harry Potter to be a good child, but most definitely misguided, troubled, and possibly psychotic. His statements didn't have much impact at Hogwarts because the students could see Harry up close and personal, and make their own decisions, but out in the world, the parents of said students were likely following Fudge's word out of fear and denial.

After all, who would ever want to admit that their greatest enemy and the source of their worst fear had risen from the dead?

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In the Great Hall the next morning, Harry entered to find that the atmosphere was not tense or saddened or even overly excited. It was exactly as it was on every other normal day. There was one reason for that. Other than the Professors, Harry was the only living thing in the castle to know what had happened. Unfortunately for the Professors, who were trying to keep it quiet until after breakfast was finished, a certain Poltergeist who just so happened to be very much not alive, came flying in at that time.

"_Oh, joyous news, magnificent occasion, she is dead! The evil, wicked sorceress would dare threaten to have me exercised from the school has done us all a great favor!" _ The Headmaster, knowing the direction this was going, tried to silence the Poltergeist.

"Peeves!" he shouted. "Don't say anymore. It's not your place. Go back to the storage halls. Find some amusement there, and leave this to us." Dumbledore was annoyed with dead specter since he had been trying to prevent any wild rumors.

"_Oh no, not this time Dumbledore, this is just too good to be true. The toad lady ate too many flies for her own good and you know what happened?" _He gave a dramatic pause. _"She CROAKED!! HEE heeheeeheeeee…." _ Peeves zoomed out of the Great Hall at lightning speed.

The body of students was quiet for a moment, before someone finally figured out what he had meant. "Oh my god, Umbridge is dead?" Harry wasn't sure who said it since they didn't say it very loud, but everyone heard it and immediately there was chaos in the Hall. People instantly started talking about what could have happened, how she could have died. Some said heart attack, others said that someone might have killed her. These weren't the only theories though. There were some more radical ideas. A few people took what Peeves had said a little too seriously and started thinking that she had actually eaten too many flies. Despite its utter silliness, more people began to adopt that story. It was almost as if people knew that it wasn't true, but wanted that to be the truth.

Harry was confounded. He could see the denial in people's eyes. To have yet another death in the school, especially with certain important members of society claiming Voldemort was back, was not something they wanted to face. The idea that evil forces could penetrate the castle was a scary thought, but it was starting to work its way into the back of peoples' minds. And despite the woman's substantial size, medical magic made death by heart attack exceedingly rare.

What was most interesting, and perhaps most hilarious for Harry was that the two ideas that were slowly being disregarded were in fact closest to the truth.

Heart attack and murder.

Thankfully, for Harry, only two people in the entire Hall had any idea of what could have really happened, and the one that hadn't actually been a part of it wouldn't be opening his mouth anytime soon.

Draco Malfoy glared at Harry from across the Great Hall. He knew that Potter was responsible, but couldn't say anything. His whole plan depended on Potter's continued leniency. He wouldn't risk screwing everything up over some low level Ministry nobody.

Harry saw Draco's look and just gave him a smug grin and a wink before going back to his breakfast. He was enjoying it until he heard a voice he didn't want to hear.

"How can you just sit there, Potter?" Ron had come in right as Peeves had delivered the message, and it just so happened to have been Hermione who had made the initial comment that sparked the wildfire of discussion. "A member of the Ministry is dead, and you're sitting there like nothing is wrong!"

Many of the people in the Hall were watching this discussion with interest, having heard some of the information coming out of the Gryffindor common room.

Harry chewed his mouthful of scrambled eggs before he said, without looking up, in a very unconvincing voice, "Oh yes. Very sad. I shall spend the evening praying for her soul and weeping over her death. Now, if you wouldn't mind leaving me in peace to eat my food, I'm trying to keep my appetite, but your presence is ruining it."

Ron was about to respond, but McGonagall had come along and shooed the redhead away toward his seat. The Transfiguration Professor spent some time going up and down the table making sure all of the students weren't too adversely affected. As she passed Harry, she leaned over and whispered, "The Headmaster would like to speak to you in his office after breakfast, Mr. Potter."

Harry just nodded and she moved on. He wondered if Dumbledore had caught on to what had happened, but doubted it. He had not been made aware of Harry's newly acquired skill, so should have no reason to believe that Harry was in any way involved. Still, Harry would need to be careful what he said, and would need to make sure he stuck to the story he had come up with.

When most people seemed to be finished with their food, Dumbledore stood and said, "If there are any students that need some help dealing with this tragedy, your Heads of House will be more than willing to sit and speak with you about this. Now, you all have 15 minutes until class starts, and I will see you all at lunch. Have a good day, children." With that, the sound of scraping chairs was heard throughout the Hall and people began heading to class.

The professors all got up and headed to their classes, but it was undeniable, that despite the fact that school was continuing as if nothing had happened, there was a tense atmosphere hanging over the place. Death never did anything to lighten the mood. Except in the case of Voldemort kicking the bucket.

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Harry had reached the Gargoyle protecting the Headmasters office only to find it open, in anticipation of the meeting. When he reached the top of the rotating staircase, he knocked once and Dumbledore bayed him enter.

"Ah, Harry, it's good to see you, my boy. We haven't had much of a chance to speak lately. How was your summer?"

"It was good Headmaster. Sirius had me working on all the different types of magic that I've been learning over the years, and then he also had me start learning Runes and Arithmancy since they are more useful than Divination and Muggle Studies. I grew up with muggles, granted they are the scum of the earth, but they were muggles none-the-less." After he said this, he looked at the old man's face, and could see sincere regret on his face.

"I really must apologize for all of those years you had to spend there. I realize that they may not have ever abused you physically, but sometimes emotional abuse can be far worse than beatings. Bruises fade, but the mind retains what is given to it, especially the negative. I am so very sorry."

Harry held no grudge against the Headmaster. He didn't agree with everything the man did of course, but Harry believed strongly in the idea that everything happened for a reason. All of the bad things that had happened in his past had gotten him to this point. Living with Sirius, exposing betrayal before he could be further taken advantage of, and being trained to be a powerful force to be reckoned with in the magical world were all things that had been a positive side-effect of his life. If given the chance to go back and change it, he wouldn't.

"Don't worry about it, Headmaster. It's in the past now and it's important not to let the past consume the future before we have a chance to experience it."

The headmaster had tears in his eyes, thankful at being forgiven so easily, and said, "Well said, Harry. Thank you for your forgiveness, it means a lot to an old man. Now, what else did you do this summer?"

Harry spent some time telling him about the Potter manors he had visited and how they had set up camp at the traditional Potter home in the Scottish Highlands. It was fairly far from the school, but still near enough to be able to fly there in about ten minutes by broomstick. He hinted at the fact that he had been making some plans for things out of the country, but wanted to keep them secret right now. Dumbledore nodded his understanding.

Harry made sure not to mention his acquiring of the Beaufoy fortune and Head of House status. While he trusted Dumbledore, if the man knew he had that kind of power, he would be watched much more closely by all sides.

"Well, Harry, all of this is very interesting, but I have called you here today for four reasons. The first, if you don't mind, is to get your side of the story about what happened last night." They had let him go back to the common room because of the traumatic situation, but now they needed a story.

"At 6:45, I left the common room to head for my detention. I was about two halls away from her classroom when a young Gryffindor girl, fourth year I would say, rushed past me holding her hand. I think there was blood on it. I wanted to ask her if she was okay, but she was running so fast that she was gone before I had the chance." Dumbledore nodded in understanding and motioned for him to continue.

"So, when I got to the classroom at about ten minutes to seven, I knocked on the door. Like I told Professor McGonagall, the door just opened as if it hadn't been closed all the way. When I went in, I found her on the floor holding her throat and I rushed over to see if she was okay. I noticed some sort of bright red quill on the ground next to her. I've never seen a quill that color, which is why I mention it, but it must have been a custom made quill. " Harry explained in a saddened voice. To be indifferent would be out of place. "When I touched her hand though, she was ice cold. That's when I ran from the room as fast as I could, heading for Professor McGonagall's room. I didn't realize it at the time, but the Charms classroom was closer. I should have gone there first; she might have had a chance." His voice cracked in fake anguish at his own failure.

"Do not worry Harry you did the best you could be expected to in such a situation. It is difficult to think straight at a time like that." Harry just nodded, accepting the man's words.

Albus Dumbledore had not been surprised when Harry had mentioned the quill, because they had found it last night at the scene. However, combining that with the story about the fleeing girl, gave them a possible suspect. Someone had reacted quite negatively to the effects of the Blood Quill.

Harry was replaying what had really happened in his head. He had gotten there, and was told to write lines. When he started, the quill had begun to dig into his hand and make him bleed. The bitch then went on to rub it in his face that he couldn't do anything about it, because no one would believe a psychotic little attention seeking liar. This had put Harry over the edge. Her blatant disregard for his wellbeing plus her previous actions had cemented her fate. He moved quickly, pinning her against the wall and placing his hand on her chest, just below her breasts. She had immediately started gasping and trying to pull his hand off, but the training had made him strong physically as well. He looked her right in the eyes, and as her life faded from her eyes, the last sight she saw was the glowing emerald gems that were Harry's eyes. "Rot in Hell, bitch!" had been the last words she ever heard. Overall, it was not a happy death.

Harry felt the energy being sucked from him, and by the time it stopped he was exhausted. The book wasn't lying. That was difficult. He moved her from her slouched position by the wall over to the ground near her desk. Then, he placed her hands at her throat to draw attention away from her heart, at least initially. He took a moment to collect himself, before sprinting the whole way to the class. He had to run so that if he ran into teacher, he would look properly concerned, and he would be out of breath once he got to the classroom. It was almost too much and he really did almost collapse when he arrived.

Harry was also happy that he had thought to mention the part about the girl with the bleeding hand. Earlier in the morning, before breakfast, he had seen Ginny Weasley with a bandaged hand. She had claimed it was from a burn when he had asked her, but it would still look suspicious, and a burn was too easy of an excuse. It was perfect.

"Thank you, Harry. Now, the next two things are both related to the training you received over the summer. Sirius said you have become skilled in Occlumency and Legillimency. Is this true?" If it was, Harry had made his job infinitely easier.

"Yes, it is. I even had some help from Professor Snape who has been kind enough to put his problems with my father behind him for good. He said he realizes that with the 'Dark Lord' back, we will need to work together. And so we worked together." Harry had offered Snape some things in order to obtain his cooperation, but everything comes with a price.

Dumbledore was impressed and decided that Severus' guidance in the Mind Arts was enough to not need to test Harry. "Sirius tells me that you are aware of the fact that a Prophecy exists. If you are ready which I believe you are, I will tell it to you now."

Harry nodded, excited to finally know what the ever elusive Prophecy said. He had wanted to know over the summer, but Sirius thought it was better to let Dumbledore explain.

"Well…

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'So, The Touch is power he knows not? That's good. At least it gives me an advantage.' Harry thought. He knew he was powerful, but he wasn't foolish enough to think that Voldemort was going to be a pushover. 'I'm glad he didn't choose Neville. I don't know if the poor kid could have handled it.'

After Dumbledore had told him the Prophecy and explained it, he had a couple more things to address.

"Okay now, Harry, unfortunately for us, the Ministry is not going to give me enough time to find a suitable replacement for the DADA position, so they are going to continue to teach the students nothing." Dumbledore had spent a lot of time thinking this over, but he knew he could trust Harry. "What I will need from you, Harry, is to take all of the students you can trust, and start a club. I am giving you permission to start this club, but it must be kept secret from the Ministry. You would be the leader and you would teach the students Defense Against the Dark Arts. You are the best student in the school in that subject and I wouldn't trust anyone else to carry this out. Will you do it?"

Harry was surprised by this request, but didn't have an immediate answer. It sounded like a good idea, but he needed to think about it first to see how it would fit into his plans.

"I can't say yes or no right this second, but I promise to get back to you by next Wednesday. Is that alright?" Harry asked.

"Yes, my boy, that's fine. Just remember, you aren't required to do this, but it would help out many of the other students who shouldn't be caught in the political backlash." Harry nodded showing that he got the point.

"Okay, the final thing I need to ask is yet another favor. I would be immensely grateful if you could keep an ear out for anything suspicious going on in connection to what happened, or even anything else you think I should know about. You have already helped me greatly today with your story, but I get the feeling that I will be wrapped up in dealing with the ministry and will need all the help I can get. Can you do that?"

Harry nodded. Of course he could do that. Not only would it put him in a position to gain blackmail material, it would help him set up information networks in the school. This was the chance he had been looking for. "Absolutely, Headmaster. I'll do the best I can."

"Thank you, my boy. Here is a note for Professor Flitwick explaining why you missed class. It is too late to show up now, since the bell is about to ring." Harry took the note and left, thinking about how to go about setting up his network.

He had left the Headmaster's office and was walking down the hall when he heard footsteps approaching. Then, from around the corner came the Minister and an entourage of Aurors, including Madam Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The Minister gave Harry a nasty look, which Harry promptly ignored, acting as if the Minister wasn't there, before saying, "Good day, Madam Bones."

She in kind responded, "Hello, Mr. Potter." The Minister didn't seem to like this, because he started grumbling about demented teenagers and whatnot. Harry continued walking as if the man hadn't said anything. The bell rang then, and Harry headed for the common room to get his books for Transfiguration.

He was almost to the common room, when he heard familiar voices. As he rounded the corner, standing there were Ron, Hermione, and a surprise visitor. Harry paused for a moment.

It was Percy. He was saying, "So if you have any information, just come to me with it and I will send it- Oh, hello Harry!" His voice went unusually high pitched, indicating his fear at the fact that they had been caught. Harry started walking again intent on passing them by without acknowledgment.

Hermione tried to make Harry look like a fool and said, "Well, do you make a habit of eavesdropping on private conversations? Or do you just do that to us?"

Harry glared at her. "It's not a very private conversation if you're going to have it right out in the middle of a hallway that's busy most of the time, now is it?" Hermione turned red, but couldn't come up with a response.

As he passed Percy he said in a low tone so that only the pompous prick could hear him, "Be careful who you cross," and walked away.

Percy blanched, but, when asked about it, wouldn't give an answer. If he was honest, Harry had always been someone that he knew would be powerful, but now that he had seen the confident stride and been spoken to in the self-assured voice, it scared him.

Down the corridor, Harry was entering the common room calmly with his mind working. '_I see now what you are doing. What will you do, though, when the person you report to is neutralized? Or what if they want nothing to do with you? Go ahead you fools, run to the Minister. That won't save you from your fate. Nothing will!' _

A/N: There's the fourth chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think. If I did something weird or if you have questions, don't hesitate to tell me or ask. Well, I'll see you soon!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Don't own anything.

A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews. Here's the next chapter. I hope enjoy it!

Ron Weasley was about to have a conniption. Had he been a robot, not that he knew what that was, he would probably have short-circuited and fizzled out. His sister had regained her crush on Harry Potter. This would have to end. He knew what Potter was doing. He was playing with his little sister's heart and would break hit when he got the chance. After all, if the new Lord was aware of what he and Hermione had been doing, which Ron was sure he was, then surely he would be aware of the fact that Ginny was benefitting from it. And yet, he showed no outward sign of disdain for the youngest redhead.

That wasn't the only thing though. Ron suspected that Harry had slipped into the Dark Arts, and had been responsible for killing the Undersecretary to the Minister. Nothing happened to him though. Instead, it was Ginny that was under investigation. All because of a slight burn on her hand. When Ron had asked her about what was going on and why they suspected her, she had been tight lipped.

By the time they were done with the investigation, they had installed Percy as the new Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Ginny, however, still wouldn't say anything about the investigation other than the fact that she might have gone to jail if not for Harry defending her. She had said that part with a faraway look of longing in her eyes.

When Ron had mentioned his suspicions about Harry to Hermione and Percy, both of them had given him a similar response. Harry was a dangerous opponent, but only politically. He was as likely to be practicing Dark Arts as Dumbledore. His background as far as bloodline was concerned, was far too Light Sided for him to have been tainted by the allure of the Dark side. Of course, they had no idea about his Beaufoy heritage, and the marriage of a Black into the Potter family was not common knowledge, so they were pretty far off about that. Percy did, however, make it clear that if Potter stepped out of line, he wouldn't hesitate in finding a way to put him back in place. The minister was getting sick of the boy's growing popularity amongst his peers.

Ron decided that if nobody wanted to help him, well then he would just have to do it himself. He wouldn't let his innocent little sister have her heart ripped to shreds by the evil thing that had replaced his former friend.

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Harry was sitting in the Room of Requirement on a Saturday evening in September. He had just finished Quidditch practice with the team, and it looked to be another great year. He had no doubt that they would win the Cup. Of course, they had needed to fill the goalie position so the team had held tryouts. Ron had come to try out, and had done the best of all of them until someone gave a closer look at McLaggen. They couldn't be sure how it had happened but the boy had been hit with a mild Confundus charm. Harry had his suspicions, but didn't voice them. He had a better way of humiliating the girl. They had done another round of shots on goal for both Ron and McLaggen and to the surprise of no one, the seventh year McLaggen did far better than the red headed loser.

After the practice was over today, Harry had decided to do some work with The Touch using the exercises in his book. The problem was, he didn't have anywhere with enough privacy. He spent a few minutes trying to figure out where to go, before finally deciding to ask the ones that knew the castle more thoroughly than even the Headmaster. The House Elves. Luckily for Harry, there was one that was completely faithful to him ever since he had freed the creature. Dobby, ever enthusiastic, had been more than happy to show Harry to the Come and Go Room, also known as the Room of Requirement.

It was set up like a small living room, with an arm chair, a round table and a fireplace. On the table were small knick knacks of all sorts. Pencils, stones, quills, paper, blocks of wood and a plethora of other little items. He opened the book to page 78 and read the passage about endurance exercises. Apparently, by using his power to break and fix things that require less energy, he could build up a tolerance to the drain, and he would also be able to maximize the effect while minimizing the draw on his magic.

He started the process by lining the items up in a row on the table and then moving his chair back so that he could stand. He made sure that the chair was close enough so that if he fell, it would be onto the chair and not the floor. He took a deep breath and began. His hands moved quickly from object to object. Pencil, paper, stone, wood, shoelace, blouse, and so on until the entire table was covered in broken objects. He stood leaning on the table and looking at his work. He was a little out of breath, but these exercises got easier every time he did them and he was able to go for longer times.

He sat down before getting ready to do the second part. He would be fixing the objects with his ability, but he would be doing this slowly, due to the delicate nature involved. All parts had to fit back together just as they had been before the structure was torn apart. Plus, the more ragged and unorganized the break, the more complicated to put it back together. I clean snap was the easiest, while shattering something to dust was just about impossible, even for a highly experienced user. Harry had no hope of ever healing a bone or a structure if it was too damaged. Not at this point in his training at least.

So for the next three hours, Harry practiced breaking the objects in increasingly complex patterns, which not only helped his damage creativity, but also made his 'healing' training more difficult. At around 5 pm, Harry headed to dinner to eat and get some energy back. He was able to walk on his own, but he really needed replenishing.

He made it down to dinner and sat next to Neville who commented on Harry's raggedy and tired look. He responded that a combination of Quidditch practice and intense spell work for a couple of hours had left him in need of some sleep.

"Speaking of spell work," said Neville, "When is the first meeting of that defense club going to be?"

Harry had been trying to speak to people from different houses to get an idea of who might be open to the idea, and who might rat them out, at the same time as trying to find out when the best day and time might be for these meetings.

"Right now, it looks like the best day to do this is going to be Thursdays. That seems to be the least busy day of the week for most people. We'll probably meet after dinner." Harry was happy that this was getting closer to becoming a reality. After he had told Dumbledore that he would set the club up, he began thinking about what he could teach them and how he could slowly insert his agenda into their minds. If he did this right, he would have his core of followers for when he made his move. They, of course, could not be told that so blatantly or it would ruin everything. He had to tread lightly. It would be a disaster if the Ministry or other high ranking members of society had any inkling of what he was planning.

He was enjoying his dinner and talking with Neville, Lavender, Parvati and the Creevey Brothers in general terms about what he might teach them. That would never last, though, and when the inevitable happened, Harry wasn't surprised. Ron walked up to where Harry was sitting and said, "You know, Potter, I'm on to your little game. I can see what you're doing to my little sister and I'll do whatever it takes to stop you. And I mean _whatever_ it takes!" The doofus had been trying to intimidate Harry by leaning over him while Harry was still sitting.

But Harry wasn't going to take this sitting down. He rose to his feet and Ron was surprised when he found Harry's eyes almost level with his. "Let me tell you something Ronald Weasley. You just made two crucial mistakes. First, you have no evidence that I have done anything other than help your sister, especially when she was in a tight spot. It was a lot more than you did for her. Second, you just threatened the Head of a Noble and Ancient House in front of plenty of kids that have family members in the Ministry, and if something were to happen to me, all eyes would be on you, now wouldn't they?"

Ron blustered for a moment trying not only to deal with his defeat, but also his fear. "Oh yeah? You think you and them are the only ones with connections in the Ministry? Well I know people too. All I have to do is tell-

"Ron! Shut up!" This was Hermione, who had entered just in time to keep the boy from saying anything extremely stupid. "As for you Harry, you think you're all high and mighty? You think you can walk around threatening us like your untouchable? No one is untouchable. Not even the 'Great Harry Potter'".

Harry leveled a look at her and then said simply, "We'll see." He sat back down and began talking with the group again about inconsequential things like Hogsmeade and homework. When things had returned to normal and Ron and Hermione were out of ear shot, Harry leaned forward slightly and said, "Lavender, you can start tomorrow morning. She needs to learn her place." She looked confused for a moment before lighting up like the Vegas strip. She nodded vigorously in happiness and quickly finished her food and practically ran out the doors of the Great Hall with Parvati in tow. There was no time to waste. They had plans to make!

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Harry awoke the next day excited to see how things would go down today. He knew Lavender had a devious streak in her, and getting the go ahead from the person who was now considered the leader of Gryffindor by the majority of students was awesome for her. She would just have to make sure she did it carefully.

Lavender had been very careful in the execution of her plan. She and Parvati had gotten in touch with all of their out of house contacts and had told them what was going on and what needed to be shared. They had even tapped into the power of the Ice Queen of Slytherin, Daphne Greengrass. It was a well known fact that the girl said very little, but when she did, those who were around to hear it listened close. Considering the fact that she had been on the receiving end of Grangers sneering looks more than once, she had no reservations about making this girl's life miserable.

Harry was one of the first people in to the Great Hall for breakfast the next day. He wasn't sure what time Hermione was going to show up, but he didn't want to miss anything. As per his normal routine, he ate scrambled eggs with some toast, a bit of fruit, and a handful of assorted nuts. Most of the students didn't even know that Hogwarts had such food for meals, but Harry had spoken to Dobby about healthier foods and the elf had said that he could get the foods Harry had asked for and put them in his usual spot.

He was scanning the Hall, seeing if anything of interest was going on with the early risers. He looked to the doors to see Draco and his posse walking through. The platinum blond just looked at him and smirked. Harry couldn't be sure about what, but he thought it might have to do with what was going to happen today. Draco was always looking for a chance to take a dig at Hermione.

Harry noticed then, that there was a blond girl at the Ravenclaw table who was being whispered at by the girls and guys around her. She was giving some sort of answer while looking uninterested, but if Harry looked close, he could see two things in her eyes. The beginnings of tears, and a slight desire to lash out at these people. Harry wasn't sure what they were saying, but he was sure now that it wasn't nice. He decided to see for himself. He rose from his table and walked over, weaving in and out of the now growing crowd of students making their way in for breakfast. As he approached the table, he noticed that the girl doing most of the verbal assaulting was the Ravenclaw Seeker, a Chinese girl by the name of Cho Chang.

"You're so stupid, Luna. You spend all of your time daydreaming about silly creatures that don't exist. You always wear funny clothes and make Ravenclaw look bad. I don't even know how you got into this house." She turned her head and noticed Harry's gaze on her. "Oh, Harry, hi. You look great today!"

"What were you all talking about?" he asked, interested to see if she would try to lie. She didn't have the decorum to even try to hide what she had said.

"Well, we were just telling this idiot fourth year that if she didn't shape up, then we would have to find some way to get her kicked out of Ravenclaw. After all, even if she didn't do anything wrong, who would the professor believe? All of us, or stupid Loony Lovegood." The whole time she had been saying these things to him, she had had her hand on his arm rubbing it slowly as if trying to seduce him. It made him want to vomit.

"It's not my fault you have an infestation of Nargles that won't let you see the true beauty of the world." This was Luna who had decided to say something. She was getting tired of this treatment. It wasn't her fault no one else could see these things. Ever since the experiment her mother had been working on backfired, she had been able to see the strangest things, and when she had told her father about it, he had broken down crying. Apparently that was what her mother had been trying to achieve. The woman had heard stories about this whole other amazing parallel world containing all sorts of unique creatures, and she had been trying to tap into it. She had failed, but at the same time gifted her daughter with something special.

"Nargles indeed, Luna." His completely sincere tone and look of disgust directed at Cho shocked everybody, but had the eccentric girl thrown for a loop. Nobody had ever, _ever_, agreed with her about the invisible beings. "In fact, Luna, if you're interested to see it some time, the Potter home has a large section cordoned off in the garden for all of the different types of creatures to frolic peacefully. Oh, and Cho," he said taking a grip of her hand, "don't ever touch me like that again." He dropped her hand and stepped away from her.

She was getting over her shock and inside she was furious. Who the hell did he think he was to talk to her like that?

Harry stood upon the chair that Cho had been occupying earlier and said loudly to the Hall, "Anyone in this school that is the victim of bullying may come and speak to me. I will help you any way that I can. Anyone in this school who is found to be a bully to those who are less advantaged or weaker than they are …well, this is your only warning. Don't test me."

"POTTER! Get down off that chair and get back to your seat!" This was Snape. He needed to make sure that people saw him being unfriendly and strict to the Boy-Who-Lived. It was all part of his cover and their plan of course, but that's what made it all the more necessary. Harry gave a mocking solute and hopped down off the chair. He caught a glimpse of the teachers table and more than a couple of teachers were looking at him with admiration. While it may have been a bit over the top, it was a rare sight for one student to stand up for so many others.

"If you'd like to Luna, you may join me at my table with me and my friends." Luna looked grateful, but said, "No thank you Harry, I'll just move to a different spot." Padma Patil, one of the few students that was actually kind to Luna in Ravenclaw, then waved her over. Before she got too far away, Harry said, "Would you meet me in the Courtyard before lunch?" Luna paused, and then nodded with a slight smile on her face.

Ron and Hermione had chosen that time to enter, and as Harry was passing them on the way back to his seat, Ron blurted out, "Geez, Potter, I didn't know you were that desperate for friends to hang out with a dingbat like Loony Lovegood!" Apparently Ron had been expecting a laugh as he looked around with a grin, but all he got was silence. He had obviously missed the important bit.

Instead of giving the dumbass a reply, he looked him dead in the eye and mustered up a fierce glare. His eyes flashed for a second causing Ron to step back in fear.

"Quit your intimidation tactics, Harry! You're all bark and no bite. You can't do anything to us. You can't always have your way." She said this in a smug tone that told the world that she knew she was right. It was a stupid thing to say. He leaned in close, his nose almost touching hers.

"If I had my way, I'd crush your face in the door." The voice was menacing, and Hermione was suddenly hesitant to try pushing her luck with Harry anymore.

Ten seconds earlier, Malfoy had decided to make his move. He got up from the Slytherin table, with posse in tow, trying to make it look like their only intention was to leave the Hall. As he got to Granger he pulled out a rancid smelling bowl and said, "Here Granger. It's your breakfast!" He handed her the bowl, and she, not knowing yet what it was, just took it. "I heard about how you love to munch on your toenails, so I figured I'd gather up all the ones in Slytherin House as a gift to you." He shuddered. The mere thought that she could do such a thing was so disgusting. Draco and his crew left quickly to avoid reprimanding, while the entire Great Hall burst into laughter. They had all heard from the House gossips about her little habit of biting her toenails. A lot. And they were all grossed out.

Harry, however, was too close to not fall victim to the stench and he did the only thing he could. He couldn't help it. It was unstoppable.

He barfed his breakfast in nasty, eggy, nutty chunks all over Hermione.

Right in her face.

A/N: How was that? That was the first look at one of Hermione's habits. She's got others, but she won't take this lying down. Was this chapter good. I've been trying to write this while trying to deal with some personal things, so I'm not sure if it was good quality. Tell me if there's something I need to fix. Cookies of your choosing if someone can spot the song lyric in this chapter. Umm… I'm trying to figure out if I have anything else to say. Don't think so. OKAY! SEE YA NEXT TIME ON DRAGONBALL Z…… oops, got a bit carried away.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: *Sigh* Really? I mean seriously. Nothing, okay, nothing.

A/N: Thank you wholeheartedly for all of the reviews I have been receiving, they are absolutely wonderful. No one got the song lyric, but oh well. It was the line where Harry said, "If I had my way, I'd crush your face in the door." That was from Coheed and Cambria, The Willing Well IV: The Final Cut. Awesome Song. Don't own that either, for clarification. Anyways, we move on.

Harry sat in the Room of Requirement on the first Thursday of October. He had just finished the first gathering of the new club, which the group as a whole had voted to call the Practical Defense Club or PDC for short. The meeting had gone well, with a fair number of students from each house. There were even some Slytherins there, Draco Malfoy included. The atmosphere had been tense at first, with a bit of name calling going back and forth, but Harry quickly tired of that and set everyone straight. As long as the Slytherins didn't cause any trouble, they were welcome. This didn't sit well with some of the students, and a few even opted to leave, which was fine by Harry. He didn't need immature children for what he was going to be doing.

The big moment had come when, halfway through his introductory speech about what they would be learning together, Ron, and Hermione walked through the door. They looked around for a minute as if trying to find a seat, but didn't have more than minute before Harry said, "Get out. You're not welcome in this meeting, now or ever."

"What!?" Hermione shouted. "This is an open club; you can't just decide who is allowed to be in it!"

Ron backed her argument up with the ever intelligent follow up of "Yeah!"

"Well, the Headmaster put me in charge of this club so really, I have the final say of who gets to be here, unless Professor Dumbledore overrides my decision. But if you insist on staying, I will just have to cancel these meetings until further notice." The students were outraged and immediately started shouting at the pair to get out, not to ruin it for them, etc.

"Fine! You know what? We don't need you. We can figure out how to do this stuff on our own." A surprising sentiment, considering all the times he had complained about all the work that was required for school. "Come on Ginny, let's get out of here."

Ginny looked around nervously, and people were looking to see what she would do and whether she would be taking the side of her brother the outcast. She glanced at Harry, and he said, "You can stay if you want, Ginny. You don't have to go." That seemed to seal it for her, and she shook her head at her brother and said, "I'm staying, Ron. I can't afford to let you ruin everything for me." With that, she turned away from him, and everyone went back to sitting down.

Ron and Hermione, realizing defeat, left, but when they were far enough away, they snuck into an abandoned room and, lost in their anger, were trying to find ways to take Harry's power away.

The meeting had gone well after that interruption, with them reviewing the things they had learned over the years, and trying to get the third and fourth years up to an acceptable level so that they could build on a solid base. It would take a few more meetings, but with Thursdays looking like they would be the official day, consistent weekly practices would help the less experienced. Luckily, three of the four Quidditch captains had joined the club, the Slytherin captain being the one absent, so they could schedule practices for other nights of the week.

The meeting had concluded an hour ago, at eight pm, after starting two hours earlier at six pm. Now, Harry sat reading a book that the Room of Requirement had supplied for him. It had taken him a few requests to find what he wanted, and since he couldn't take the book out of the room, a condition of the magic in the room that Dobby had explained, he needed to make the best of his time.

The book in front of him talked about something that Harry had decided over the summer, after he had had dealings with the Goblins. Alternative banking opportunities. Preferably within the Wizarding World, but if necessary, he could go to the muggle world.

It was almost nine o'clock, when a passage caught his eye. In a book titled _Muggle Money: the Guide to Exploiting the Muggle Banking System_ he read:

_It is an unfortunate thing for the purebloods of society that Gringotts Bank, a useful bank, run by Goblins, has become the mainstay of Wizarding Society. The very fact that there is Gringotts seems to make wizards and witches, rich or poor, automatically assume that vast caverns are the best places to store large sums of gold. Or any gold at all. In truth, all it is is foolishness. _

_In the Muggle World, a bank called Barclays is well respected and well known. Founded in 1690, it has a rich history. What is not known about it except by very few, is that it has a Wizarding branch. Located near its Headquarters in London, it is mostly used by Muggleborns whose families already have accounts with the bank._

_Not only are humans much more trustworthy than Goblins, the bank charges nowhere near as much to exchange the currencies back and forth. To open a Wizarding account, go to…._

The passage continued on, giving instructions about which department to visit, what words to speak in order to let them know your purpose there without saying anything obvious in front of the muggles. He called Dobby to him.

"Yes sir, Harry Potter, sir. What can Dobby be doing for you?" The little elf was hopping back and forth on his feet, excited at the prospect of being needed by his savior.

"You're still a free elf, aren't you Dobby? You aren't bound to the school, right?"

"Oh, no Harry Potter, I's not bound to the school. I's a free elf, and I is going to stay that way until the perfect Master is willing to take on my services!" He had a mixture of what looked like eagerness and sadness in his eyes at the same time.

Harry, his interest piqued, asked, "Who would that be, Dobby?" He was worried now, because if he couldn't get Dobby to swear his loyalty, he'd have to find another method of doing what he needed to.

"You, of course, Harry Potter, sir! Ever since you saved me from the bad master, I has been wanting to work for you, but you has not been needing me yet. So I is waiting."

Harry figured he was the luckiest son-of-a-bitch on earth, the way things tended to work out for him. "Well, Dobby, I have need of your services now. Would you like to be my House Elf?"

The elf could barely contain himself, threatening to leave puddles all over the floor with tears streaming down his face. Harry wasn't sure of the procedure to take a House Elf into his service, but Dobby guided him through it, and a few minutes later, he had one new House Elf. Of course, he had some back at the Potter homestead, but while those Elves were loyal to him because he was a Potter, Dobby was loyal to him because he was _Harry_ Potter.

"Your first order of business, Dobby, is to go to the bank tomorrow with a letter that I will write in a moment, and the Goblins will be directed to consolidate the Potter and Black fortunes into one large Vault." He could do this for one big reason. Since Sirius was an escaped criminal, he had allowed Harry to become the controller of his accounts so that the Ministry wouldn't be able to track what Sirius was doing with his bank accounts. The accounts showed Harry as the holder and the beneficiary, so essentially, the money was his now, but he made sure to take care of Sirius.

Many of the purebloods had their elves perform bank business for them, and the little creatures were legally allowed to do so, as long as they had a signed and sealed letter from their master.

Dobby nodded, understanding what his job was to be, and said, "Yes, Harry Potter, sir, it will be done first thing in the morning."

Harry said, "Good. Now, Dobby, while I work on this letter, let's talk about you. What is the extent of your abilities? Just what exactly can you do with that Elf magic of yours?"

The elf, if possible, was even happier, and for the next hour, Harry was filled in on all of the abilities that Dobby had. Quite a few of them would be quite handy in the future, but he had heard one that would be the most useful at the present time. He filled Dobby in on what he had planned, and was informed by the little elf that the ability could do what was needed.

"Excellent, Dobby. You have just secured yourself the place of Head House Elf. How does that sound?" Harry asked. The poor elf, however, couldn't handle all of the wonderful things that had happened to him tonight, and he passed out.

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Draco Malfoy was in a difficult situation. While he hated the power that Potter had over him, what he had been asked to do was simple, and it was all that had been required of him. Potter could have forced him to do any number of other things after the blond had gotten himself into that stupid agreement.

He had agreed to spy for the Gryffindor, passing him information from time to time about the goings on in Slytherin, and alerting him to any potential threats. It wouldn't have been so bad if the Boy-Who-Lived-to-be-a-pain-in-his-ass hadn't had the upper hand so greatly. Draco had been forced to take a magical oath promising not to communicate to or alert anyone in any fashion what was going on.

Still, though, the situation could have been far worse, and so he did his best to just focus on his task and his school work. His attitude had not been as obvious and bad as before, and quite a few people had noticed it, but if anyone mentioned it to him, he made sure they knew he still had it by flinging around some of that sharp-tongued wit he was known for. What he didn't tell anyone was that his parents' ever decreasing care for his personal happiness was really beginning to get to him. It wasn't anyone's business though, and he would keep it to himself for now.

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At breakfast the next morning, while Dobby was off meeting with the Goblins, a plain brown school owl flew into the Great Hall, along with the multitudes of others. The avian landed in front of him, holding out its leg to be relieved. Harry took the letter, but told the bird to wait, which it did. He read the paper, which held a short message.

_Watch yourself. Those two are planning something, but I haven't figured out what. They keep using the Restricted Section, but anytime one of my people gets close enough, they shut the book and leave. I don't know what they have in mind, but the look in their eyes tells me it's not good. _

_Serpent_

Harry sighed and crumpled the paper in anger. Combining her book smarts with his bull headed attitude would mean nothing good. Neville looked up at him with a questioning glance, but Harry just shook his head and said, "Later."

He would have to make sure he was careful now. There was any number of things they could be planning, from framing him, to attacking him with violence, or poison, or things he had trouble imagining. The books were in the Restricted Section for a reason. He got up and, contemplating how to handle this, left the Great Hall for the first class of the day.

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Voldemort was very unhappy right now. He had called for Lucius a half an hour ago via the Dark Mark, but the man had still not shown up. Just as he was about to send another pulse to let the man know that the meeting was off, Lucius came rushing through the door and prostrated himself immediately before his Lord.

"Please forgive me, my Lord. I was meeting with Minister about some contributions I was to make and he kept refusing to let me leave so I -

"CRUCIO!!" Lucius's screams of agony rang out as Voldemort tortured one of the few followers he had any semblance of trust in. "I AM YOUR LORD! Not the Minister! When I call, you come! Is that clear?" Lucius, in unbearable pain was unable to respond. The snake faced monstrosity held the curse for a few more seconds before releasing it. He leaned over a panting Lucius and said with a venomous whisper, "Is that clear?"

"Chrystal clear, My Lord" he managed to gasp out.

"Good. Now, we must make plans for Halloween. I had to use my second and last Horcrux during the Revival Ritual in May. It's not safe for me to be without a Horcrux for too long." He had used his first one to survive the Killing Curse that had rebounded when Harry was a baby. Now, he was out of them and he felt insecure and naked. He would never tell Lucius that, but it didn't make it any less true.

"Go and get Bellatrix, and we shall make our plans." Lucius left to get his crazy sister-in-law. It was his responsibility because Voldemort knew that she wouldn't try to rape him if the elder Malfoy was around. And considering that the Ritual left him impotent, her attempts could lead to a potentially embarrassing situation.

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Saturday found Harry in the Headmaster's office, using the floo to go to Gringotts. He had some business to attend to, and had requested some time away from school. The Headmaster, realizing that Harry had many responsibilities as a Lord, had given him permission to go.

He landed in The Leaky Cauldron to the surprise of a few of the patrons and quickly headed to the back. Once he entered the Alley, he could feel all eyes on him. He had gone for his favorite outfit, but instead of a white shirt, and black vest, he had on a green silk shirt and a white vest. He still had the trench coat, gloves, pants and shoes all in black. His hair was in its normal braid to keep it out of his face.

He ignored all the stares, which were plenty because he hadn't been seen by the general public much since the last school year. More than a few women were thinking about the things they would like to do with him.

He made it to Gringotts, and requested to speak to SilverKnuckle, his account manager. After the goblin at the desk left to the back for a moment, he came back and signaled for Harry to follow. Walking down a few hallways, Harry eventually ended up in the account manager's office.

He was seated, and SilverKnuckle said, "What is it that I can do for you today, Mr. Potter?" The goblin was curious as to know what was so important that the boy had to come all the way to Diagon Alley in the middle of the school year, before Hogsmeade weekends had even begun.

"There were two purposes to my coming here today. The first was to double check the consolidation process on the Black and Potter fortunes to make sure that they were adequately combined. The second was to visit my Beaufoy vault," Harry said. "Do you have the account summaries for the old vaults and the new one?"

He was handed a thick folder with all of the account information for his accounts. It was divided up into sections for each vault he had, from the family vaults, to his trust vault and also his new combination vault. He noticed that the interest rate on the new vault was half of what it had been on the other two vaults. He mentioned this to the Goblin.

"Well Mr. Potter, we have a policy that if your holdings are exceed a certain amount, the interest decreases as your money increases. This helps us avoid losing money hand over foot to the very large accounts like yours." The goblin was trying not to smirk.

Harry said angrily, "Why wasn't I told this would happen before it went through? You could have at least told my House Elf!"

"It is not our responsibility to inform our clients of every stipulation and condition we have here at the bank, and since you never asked, we assumed you knew what you were doing."

What Harry wasn't saying to the goblin was that he knew all of this already. However, he needed the goblin to think that they had won a small victory in the matters of money. If the little creature continued to think he was ignorant, well he would be caught blind-sided when the time came.

"Hmph." The goblin gave a little smirk, but didn't do anything else. He was just glad that they had managed to complete the request before he had figured out what would happen. Stupid child.

"Can we go to my vault now?" Harry asked belligerently. They went to one of the carts, and after a few minutes of flying down the tracks at break neck speeds, they arrived at the Beaufoy vaults, where Harry saw the Green Welsh from last time.

~Hello, my young friend~ the dragon greeted Harry. ~It has been some time since I have seen you. How have you been?~

~I have been, and am doing, well. You know, I never asked your name last time I was here. Would you be so kind as to tell me what it is?~ requested Harry.

~My name is Siferius, young one. And your name is Harry, correct?~ Harry nodded.

~It's nice to meet you Siferius. Are you enjoying the peaceful life down here?~ Harry asked.

The dragon gave what Harry could only discern as a scowl. ~These little creatures walk around here treating us like dirt. They act like they are better than us, but I would crush them if I could!~

Harry cast a glance at the goblin, who looked like he was desperately trying to instantaneously learn Parseltongue. ~Why don't you then? You are much stronger than them, what's stopping you?~

~They would kill us. They have no care about killing us if we fight back at all, and in these fairly constricted caverns, it's difficult for us. Besides, most of the dragons here are so far past their prime that they don't care enough to do anything.~ The Green Welsh was frustrated at the situation, and now, his breath was mixed with flame, making the goblin very nervous.

"What did you say to it!? I'm going to have to call back up."

"No, no, no. Don't do that, it will only make him angrier. Just do me a favor and answer me one question. Since this dragon is guarding one of my vaults, can I have him moved over to my Potter-Black vault?" Harry wanted the dragon away from this vault, and nearer the surface. If for no other reason than to give it a little bit more room. It was quite cramped down here for a dragon of this size, and he could imagine the poor dragon's frustration. The giant green lizard perked its head up at hearing that, excited at the prospect of having a little more room.

"But, Mr. Potter! If we move this dragon elsewhere you won't have anything to guard your vault." The goblin wasn't sure what was going on, but he was being cautious. The big problem they had was that goblins couldn't physically access the vaults with dragons. It was one of the security measures set up by earlier and more idealist and moral goblins that caused the younger ones a lot of trouble. The magic had been lost to history, and so they could not reverse it.

In every vault, there was a panel that held the balance of the vault, and a little dial so that the holder could enter the withdrawal or deposit amount and/or item, and it would be automatically logged on their account sheets. In the vaults that had no guardian, or was owned by a family that didn't pay much attention to the fine details of their finances like the impoverished Weasleys would, the goblins did this themselves by checking the vaults weekly. Often times, the goblin with the responsibility of checking the vault might slip a few galleons into his or her pocket, and not account for them on the dial.

But now, if the Potter-Black vault was inaccessible, they wouldn't be able to take the 10-20 galleons a week that they had been. The interest on that amount of gold had been so high that only the most detail oriented investor would catch a loss of less than 100 galleons. That would be ruined.

"Oh," replied Harry, "didn't I mention it earlier? I'm emptying this vault." He had an innocent look on his face, as if he had no idea of the consequences of such a thing. If this vault was closed completely, there would no longer be any substantial financial evidence that the Beaufoy family ever existed.

Many times, when people came forward into the public light claiming to be from some famous magical line or another, the first thing that was done was to go to Gringotts and be sure that the vault was still there. Then, they would see if the person was able to access it, which they usually weren't. Now, this young naïve fool was threatening to plunge the story of one of the most powerful gifts ever into permanent doubt by removing evidence of it. If the goblin didn't know better, he would think the boy was doing this intentionally.

Apparently the goblin didn't know better. He attempted to talk Harry out of it, but he wasn't having it. He kept giving SilverKnuckle silly and childish answers like how it was so much trouble to come here when he needed money, so he would just put the gold in his vault at home. How he wanted all the weapons and books to fill up the library so that he had a cool looking workplace. Things like that.

The goblin really had no choice but to accept these explanations and allow the boy to do this. He didn't want to cause any problems that could lose them a customer. He would, of course, have to inform the President of the Bank, who would then punish him for allowing this to happen, but really there was nothing that could be done.

"Okay," said Harry, "If you would give me a few minutes alone in the vault, I'll get everything out of here and we can be done with our business." He watched as the goblin walked dejectedly back toward the cart, which wasn't too far away. If Harry left the vault door open, the tiny being would be able to see what he was doing, and since he couldn't close it behind him, he needed an alternative.

As he passed the dragon on the way in he said politely, ~Do me a favor would you? Block the opening so he can't see, and make sure he doesn't get any ideas on trying to figure out what I'm doing, please.~

The dragon gave a grumble in acknowledgement and as Harry opened and passed through the door, the giant reptile shifted, blocking the goblin's view, much to his chagrin.

Inside, Harry looked around for a moment before calling for Dobby. The elf arrived and he asked the little guy if he could do what they had discussed. The elf nodded, but said he would need some help. So he left and came back with three more elves from the Potter homestead.

Harry was excited. This was the first time he would see the power of the House Elves put to work, and if they came through for him, it would be an excellent thing for his future plans. "Okay, Dobby, you know what to do."

With that, the four elves moved over to the four corners of the vault, their backs wedged in against the walls. Dobby said, "Harry Potter, sir, please move into the door way and out of the vault." He did as he was told, and stood just behind the dragon that was still blocking the goblin's view. Dobby gave a quick countdown, and when he finished, the four elves chanted some strange language, and in an instant, the contents of the vault were gone.

He then sent the four elves home to rest, and later, put away all of the items. As he left the vault and closed it, he said goodbye to the dragon, but first he said, ~You'll be out of here soon. Not to worry, my friend.~ The dragon simply nodded and watched as Harry walked away.

When he got back to the cart, SilverKnuckle casually inquired about how he had moved all of the items. Harry replied that he had only been doing inventory and that he would be sending someone at a later date. The goblin was surprised, but this would allow him to see if he could find some way to prevent the emptying of the vault. After all, the boy had told them to move the dragon to the other vault, but had left all of the belongings in the Beaufoy vault. Yes, this could work out very well.

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Harry was walking through the corridors of Hogwarts, headed back to the common room. He had finished his dealings at the Wizarding bank and as of right now, everything was going how he wanted it. Those money grubbing little bastards wouldn't know what hit them.

He was eager to get back to the common room so that he could take a nap before dinner. He decided to take one of the less used passageways. He was thinking about what the future held, and so, when he got to the last corner before it opened into the main passageway, he was taken by surprise. Before he knew what was happening, there was a hand over his mouth and a blade in his spine. He felt the blade dissolve in his back, and immediately he knew that this was meant to kill slowly and painfully, not cripple. He had read about blades like this, and knew what they were capable of.

What his attackers did not expect was for Harry's braid to react. In acting upon a serious threat, the second purpose of his braid activated. It came swinging up, and faster than either could react, a small thin needle slid out and pierced each neck.

Out of fear over what had just happened to them, and knowing that there wasn't anything else they could do to him, they fled. Without them holding him up, Harry began to collapse. Despite his vision blurring from the negative effects of the attack, he caught a flash of orange red, before falling face first to the floor.

With the last of his strength, he mustered his concentration, focused on the one man he knew would hear him and thought as hard as he could, '_SEVERUS!' _With that done, he passed out.

A/N: Okaaaaaay! That's the end of that chapter. Thanks again for all of the reviews. If you have questions, or if something is unclear, please let me know so that I can figure out what concepts need to be flushed out some more. Hope you enjoyed it! Bye!

P.S. I meant to tell everyone that the description of Harry as 'Dark' is more in his attitude and his merciless approach, rather than a lack of morals. He still has morals, and he still has people he cares about.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: Thank you again for all the wonderful reviews. A got a couple that were very helpful and in depth. You know who you are. Anyway, here's the next chapter.

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger considered themselves very lucky. They had just passed Harry Potter sitting at the table during breakfast, and had heard a snippet of his conversation. It just so happened that he would be leaving the castle today, claiming he had some business at Gringotts. He would be gone for a significant portion of the morning. When the two heard that, they didn't say anything, but cast a sideways glance at each other. This was perfect! Today was their chance.

To make sure that he was really leaving though, they waited until he left breakfast, and quietly followed him at a distance, until he reached the Headmaster's office. They hid behind a statue at the corner of a nearby corridor, and watched as he descended up into the office.

"I can't believe he's leaving the school for the whole morning," said an excited Ron. "This is so perfect!"

It had taken them some time to come up with a plan, but they had found what they needed, and even if it wasn't completely successful, they were sure that he wouldn't be causing any more trouble after they executed their plan. Whether he survived or not.

"Don't get too confident, Ron. There are any number of things that could go wrong." Hermione realized that she had to constantly remind Ron of the dangers they were facing, taking on someone as loved among the student population as Harry. "We still aren't sure if he's even really leaving, and then we have to hope that Percy believes us and has a contact in the Department. Don't count your dragons before they hatch." Ron just nodded.

They had been standing and waiting for fifteen minutes, when the gargoyle suddenly moved, and out stepped the Headmaster, walking merrily down the hall, whistling a little tune, as if all was right in the world.

The two ducked away to avoid being seen. Hermione spoke. "Now there's a very good chance that Harry really is gone. He said he was leaving, and the Headmaster wouldn't leave him in the office alone unless something serious was going on, and his whistling indicated otherwise." Ron's eyes showed that he was having trouble following the logic, but he didn't say anything, for which Hermione was happy. She didn't want to have to kill the idiot before she could exact revenge.

They went off in search of Percy, heading first for his office, figuring that if he was going to be anywhere on a Saturday morning, it would be there. They worked their way through the halls, anxious over what was about to happen.

When they reached his room, they knocked on the door and waited. Getting no response, and being kind of worried, Hermione knocked again, but this time just a bit louder and more frantic. It took a moment, but a rather frazzled and thoroughly unhappy, but worried, Percy answered the door.

"What is it? Why are you knocking on my door so early in the morning?" the older red head asked, sounding annoyed at being awoken.

"We think Harry has been practicing the Dark Arts, Percy." This was Hermione. Which is why Percy did not immediately dismiss it out of hand. She had been always been the intelligent one, and had always been the one to tell Ron that his claims about Harry were crazy. But now, here she was, standing in front of him claiming the same thing. It gave him pause.

"What evidence do you have of this, and what do you propose I should do about it? Why not go to your Head of House?" He was trying to figure out what was going on, and for the life of him couldn't.

"You know how they are, Percy." Hermione said. "They look at Harry like some sort of Merlin reincarnate. He can't do anything wrong in their eyes." She was getting a bit hot under the collar just thinking about their beloved 'Boy-Who-Lived'. It made her sick. "We came to you because you have the knowledge to deal with these kind of things. They wouldn't have given you this job if you didn't know what you were doing."

Percy felt good knowing that some of the students had faith not only in his skills, but also in the Ministry for picking the right person for the job. "Well, I appreciate your kind words, but what exactly do you suggest I do? I can't very well just go searching through his things. I'm only a teacher."

Hermione had the solution ready. "Isn't there anyone you know in the Department of Law Enforcement? Someone that would know how to get past possible Dark magic protections that is also loyal to the Minister?" The two students were hoping desperately that this worked. They weren't disappointed. He bought it hook, line and sinker.

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Ron and Hermione were slightly disappointed. Only slightly though. While they had been hoping to find some evidence that they could use against Harry, the only things he had in his trunk were the normal school books, clothes, and his personal items like the photo book, invisibility cloak, and Marauder's Map. It was the last two items that the two of them had been looking for. Now, they needed the Auror to be lazy.

"What is it that you thought I might find in there, kids?" asked the Auror. "There's absolutely nothing out of the ordinary here, and despite the fact that the protections on his trunk were advanced for a kid his age, it's not anything to be suspicious of." He gave them a disapproving look.

Hermione wasn't sure what to say, but for once Ron came through. "We heard him talking about getting his hands on some items that the Ministry would disapprove of if they knew he had them." The Auror looked surprised for a moment before nodding.

"Well, just make sure you are more positive about your accusations next time. This is serious stuff, and if you report something falsely like this again, I'll have you arrested." He left the dormitory leaving the two students and Percy standing there.

Percy said, "You can't expect me to keep doing you favors like this. This will make me look bad, so now I'm going to have to repair my reputation before I can ask him for help anymore. Take a break from all of the accusations against Harry for a while, okay? You're making things more difficult for yourself and for me. So cut it out." With that little diatribe completed, he left the room, leaving them with a partially opened trunk, containing an easily accessible cloak and Map. They looked at each other and smirked.

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They were back in the common room, breathing heavy, and trying to come up with a story to tell the professors about why the trunk had been opened. They eventually decided on the truth. Well sort of. They would tell them the same thing they told Percy. That they suspected Harry and felt most comfortable going to the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. They weren't sure if they would be suspected in the attack, but if they were, they could flee the school before being arrested, and seek asylum somewhere. After all, there were plenty of people willing to reward them for killing the Golden Boy.

Ron snuck up to the dormitory, with Hermione standing at the bottom to watch for people. He peeked inside to make sure no one was there, before quickly putting the invisibility cloak in the now unprotected trunk, and the map next to it. He closed the trunk right as he heard Hermione yell, "Hurry up Ron, I want to go to lunch!"

That was the signal that someone was coming toward the boy's dorm, so he quickly headed over toward his bed, pulled his shoes off, and the door opened, revealing Neville. Ron casually picked up his shoe and pretended to be putting it on. He looked up to find Neville looking at him. "What do you want?" he asked the boy that seemed to be perpetually nervous.

"Um, sorry to bother you, but have you seen Harry? I asked Hermione, but she ignored me." He wasn't as unsure of himself as he used to be, but without Harry around to give him some reassurance, he slipped back into his old self at times.

"No, and why would I care about where Potter is?" He put on his other shoe and stood. "Now, I'm gonna go get lunch. I have better things to do than worry about your precious little gang leader." Ron left the room, barely staying calm. He was so edgy that if someone had looked closely at his hands, they would see that he was shaking. He made it down the stairs, and he and Hermione went to lunch, making sure to take the long way to avoid being seen near that hallway.

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Harry could hear mumbling. He couldn't make the words out, but he knew there were people there. He wasn't sure who, but as the fogginess started to clear, he could make a good guess.

"He should be waking any minute now. He's very lucky to come out of this alive. If he hadn't called for me, or if I hadn't trained him in how to do that, there is a very good chance he would be dead, instead of paralyzed." Harry's eyes shot open at that statement.

He tried to shout, "WHAT!?" He realized, however, that there was no sound coming out. Poppy came shuffling over to him when she noticed he was awake and bid him calm down.

"Just relax now Harry. The poison has affected many different parts of your body, so you won't be able to speak for a while. As for the paralysis, it won't be permanent, but we will need to get a Mediwizard from St. Mungo's in here to help heal the nerve damage. I can heal most things, but nerves are a specialization that I never learned. You'll be wheel chair bound for a few weeks, but once everything is healed, it will only be a matter of getting your strength back before you're back to full health." Poppy was trying to reassure the young boy, who had been a victim of a terrible crime.

Harry relaxed some. He was not happy with the fact that he was going to be at a disadvantage, but he was glad that it wouldn't be permanent. Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Snape were both nearby, and the Headmaster came forward to speak to him. "Poppy, would you be so kind as to give us some privacy?"

She looked like she wanted to argue, but he gave her a look, and she left. Once they had some privacy, Dumbledore asked him one question. "Do you know who did this?"

"I do, but I won't tell you." Harry responded, being sure not to make it sound like he was being defiant or protective.

The Potions Professor joined the conversation at this point, "What I want to know is if you knew this attack was coming?" Harry looked away, a bit ashamed of himself.

"Yes, I did. I had been warned, but I ignored it." Truth be told, Harry had gotten a bit cocky in his power. He had begun to think that no one in this school could touch him, but he had been proven wrong. It was the reason he hadn't bother taking his map and cloak anywhere, but leaving them protected in his trunk. He saw no need for extra protection.

It had almost been his downfall. He needed to rethink his priorities if he was to stay alive.

Severus interrupted his train of thought. "What are you going to do? You can't just go around punishing people, even the Headmaster doesn't have the ability to ignore that kind of vigilante attitude."

Harry looked him in the eye and said three words. "They were injected."

The Potions Professor's was shocked, and it showed. He had trouble keeping his jaw from hitting the floor. After a moment though, his eyes narrowed and a smirk came across his face. "Really? You managed to get them before you fell unconscious? Wonderful. We'll see how well it works."

Headmaster Dumbledore looked between the two. He was trying to decide if he should intervene. On the one hand, if anyone found out that he let this go, he would lose a lot of credibility in the Wizarding World, which would make the fight much more difficult. However, Harry and Severus seemed to have a plan to take care of the culprits, and they were saying very little so that he had no culpability. So, he decided it was time to leave the room.

"Harry, I shall come by later to check on your progress and see how you are feeling. " Harry nodded, and with that, the Headmaster left.

He and Snape spent the next hour discussing how exactly he was going to handle his attackers. When Harry informed the Potions Professor, the man was glad that he had decided to help the Boy-Who-Lived. He had a sadistic streak that could come close to matching the Dark Lord, while fighting for the survival of the Wizarding World. A perfect combination.

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The next few days of rest and recovery seemed to pass by in a flash for Harry. He spent much of his time in bed, sometimes sleeping, talking to friends that were visiting, and sometimes he would be helped into a chair next to the bed. If he wasn't visiting with someone, he was reading. Many times it was law books and books about banking, but when people asked what it was for, he would just say, "Oh, just some light reading. It's always good to know what I can and can't do."

One of the people that was there with him constantly was Luna. She, of course, had a crush on him, but it was because he had stood up for her, when no one else had. And through spending time together, they started to become close. It wasn't any closer than good friends would be, but Harry found that they had a lot of common interests and enjoyed spending time with her. So, one day after everyone else had left, he had asked her if she would like to go to Hogsmeade.

When he said it, her head had snapped up in surprise, but after a moment, she nodded, too excited to speak.

Finally, it was time for Harry to leave and go back amongst his peers. He would have to use a wheel chair for a couple of weeks, but the only real problem he had with that was that he would miss the first Quidditch match. He had of course already taken steps to ensure that the team would have the help it needed, and had suggested to the team, when they visited, that Ginny Weasley might be a good replacement. Small, nimble, quick, she would be perfect.

So, taking his suggestion, they had given her a chance at the team during one of the practices. She had been good. Not anywhere near as good as Harry. That boy was a god on a broom. But she was good enough to be his replacement for now.

Ginny had, of course, found out that it was Harry that had suggested her for the spot, and when she heard that her mind was racing. '_I knew it! I knew in my heart of hearts that he loved me. He's never even seen me really fly before, at least not in a serious way, but he still suggested me. It's like he knows everything about me. Oh, how I love him. Don't worry Harry, I won't let anyone stand between us. I promise! You may not be ready to admit your feelings now, but in time, my dear, in time.' _ She went on day dreaming like this for a while. Concocting wild scenarios where he would shout his love for her in front of the world and such.

Just good old, overall madness.

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Harry was rolling down the corridor, having just been released from the Hospital Wing, heading toward the Great Hall. He was very hungry, but Madam Pomfrey was very picky about what her patients ate, so he was looking forward to being able to eat more unhealthy food again. Mmmm, bacon.

As he approached the door, Luna, who had come to help him, walked forward and opened the door, and he wheeled himself through. The students had, of course, all heard about what happened, but in truth, they had never expected him to be in a wheel chair. He was the Boy-Who-Lived. This type of thing didn't happen. What did surprise them was the fact that he could still manage to look so regal in a wheel chair. Not to mention the look on his face promised retribution.

Luna walked over toward the Ravenclaw table, and Neville, who had been walking behind him, followed as he headed toward the table to get his breakfast. As he passed Ron and Hermione, he gave them each a piercing look, which left them wondering if he knew the truth and with pounding hearts.

He made it to his seat and started eating, savoring the flavors that he had missed in the Hospital Wing. He was relaxing, talking to all the Gryffindor's that had missed him, when suddenly there was a scream. Everyone looked to the sound and there was Hermione, on the floor, holding her stomach and writhing in pain.

"AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!" She gave an ungodly howl, and McGonagall got up, as well as Poppy, and they began moving quickly towards her to find out what was wrong.

Suddenly, Hermione rolled over, curled in on herself a bit, and vomited blood all over the floor. By this time, Madam Pomfrey had gotten there, and knocked her out with a spell. She didn't know that Hermione could still feel the pain and was actually fully aware within her mind. They put her on a conjured stretcher and hurried her out of the Great Hall, where all eyes were wide and people were in shock over what had happened.

After Ron recovered slightly, he turned to look at Harry and narrowed his eyes in anger. He pointed at Harry and said, "YOU! I KNOW YOU DID THIS!" He started storming towards Harry, but Professor Flitwick got in the way and levitated Ron up and out the doors of the Great Hall to take him outside to cool down.

Just before they got into the Entrance Hall, Ron gave another scathing glare at Harry, to which the dark haired, green eyed boy responded with a simple gesture. A wink.

Everyone in the Great Hall heard the angry screams of Ronald Weasley that followed.

A/N: Thank you all so much for being patient. I truly do appreciate everyone reading and reviewing. The updates are going to be more like this amount of time apart at least until summer. Life is hectic right now, and I had a work injury I was struggling with, which made me not want to write. There was something else I wanted to say, but I can't remember. Thanks again. Okay, BYE!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: Thanks everyone for being patient. Life was hectic, and still sort of is, but I have a little more time on my hands now that school is done for the summer. Here's the next chapter.

Halloween was normally a relaxed, but festive fair. Full of jollity and celebration, visitations from more ghosts than usual, and even the occasional special happening, with a spiritual projection of someone from beyond the grave. Or at least, for everyone outside of Hogwarts it was. For those in these walls, Halloween had become synonymous with strange and unhappy events.

Today's Halloween started in the same vein as those past. The day began overcast and dreary. The sky looked as though it wanted so very badly to open, but was just short a few tears short. The Great Hall was decorated only partially, the Professors wanting to save the full decorations for tonight's feast. There were floating Jack O lanterns, and a few bats flying around, but other than that, it looked like your standard morning breakfast hall.

But it didn't feel like it. The student body was eerily calm. Not the type of calm that you find in someone that is content, or happy with their situation, but rather the type of calm that comes over someone when they are trying not to be noticed. Calm on the outside, tense and a bit nervous on the inside. Ask anyone in that expansive room how they were feeling, and they would have said fine. Tell them that you knew how they were really feeling, and they would have clammed up.

Something was off today, and everyone knew it. The only people that showed no indication were the Headmaster, and Harry. Harry felt it, he had just decided to try and lighten the moods of his friends with light and humorous conversation. It wasn't working well, but he was getting a few laughs. There was a dull buzz throughout the hall as other people were attempting to keep up the façade of normality.

The Headmaster also felt it, but he knew that it was his duty to keep a cheery face, for he knew that if even one student felt better because of his cheer, he had done his job. What he didn't realize was that quite a few students had indeed begun to feel better about the day because of the old man's smiling visage. Besides, they had something fun to look forward to today.

Quidditch.

The second game of the season had been scheduled for today. Quidditch was almost never scheduled on Halloween whether because of calender discrepencies, or superstitious staff members objectin, but Halloween was on a Saturday this year, and the first Hogsmeade weekend was the following Saturday, meaning that if they had waited, they would have fallen behind the planned schedule that they had tediously worked out over the summer.

The first match of the season had seen Ginny Weasley filling in for Harry in the position of Seeker while he recovered from his attack. She had not done well as expected,meaning that the match against Hufflepuff was much closer than it should have been. In fact, the Hufflepuff seeker had been the one to catch the snitch. The only reason Gryffindor had won that game was because the chasers had built up a substantial lead, and the beaters had kept the Hufflepuff seeker from catching the snitch, so that by the time that the little golden ball was caught, Gryffindor had a points cushion that kept them from losing.

But the main focus was on this match coming up, in which Harry was going to be playing, after recovering almost fully.

It was a match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. And Harry had a bone to pick with Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker. She had led the verbal attacks on Luna for a long time, and Harry was going to show her why he was considered the greatest seeker in a century at Hogwarts. He knew some moves that were beater like in tactics, that were both legal, and quite intimidating.

The problem now was getting the players motivated, considering how dreary and downcast everyone and everything was.

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In the locker room, the Gryffindor team was silent. You could hear the sounds of the students passing by, going up the find their seats overlooking the raised field.

It was silent. No one was saying anything. Angelina was racking her brain for something to say, but was coming up short.

Harry decided to say something. "Everyone is feeling a little bit off today. I feel it you feel it, the world is having a sick day." He paused, noticing the nods he was getting. "They are feeling it too. We need to go out there and act like nothing is wrong. It's just Halloween. Things always get a little creepy and odd on Halloween. Nothing different than the standard Halloween." They were starting to relax, thinking back on past Halloween's and thinking about how they felt. It was an odd day that set everyone on edge, most likely due the proximity of the Plane of the Dead.

"Let's go out there, with smiles, or at least looking relaxed, and it's bound to throw them for a loop. They aren't expecting us to be anything but in the same mood they are." Harry said. He could see them considering it, before the twins both stood up with great wide grins on their faces and started dancing a jig. They sang a song with no discernible words, but it made the others feel better, and soon most of the rest of the team was smiling. A couple people, the girls in particular, were laughing.

So they headed out on the field when called for, with smiles and cheer, and they couldn't see it, but this had two effects. Everyone that wanted Gryffindor to win felt a little bit better and lighter, while having no clue why. And those that wanted Ravenclaw to win felt slightly disconcerted at seeing their opponents so relaxed when they themselves couldn't chill out.

Madam Hooch brought the captains together at the center of the pitch, and Angelina shook hands with a cordial Roger Davies. One of his chasers had told him to try and crush her hand, but he had just looked at the idiot with eyes that said 'You are full of stupid, aren't you?'. He wasn't a douche bag, and wasn't going to risk their chances by doing something as foolish as that.

The players all got into position. The snitch was released first, and it was gone from sight before anyone had a chance to even see where it was going. Madam Hooch blew her whistle and threw the quaffle into the air. Her assistant released the bludgers, and the game was on. Harry headed for the skies, uninterested in what his team was doing for right now. He knew that Gryffindor was the better team, and that they could keep control of the game fairly easily.

Cho Chang apparently couldn't play anywhere near as well as he could, because she immediately started tailing him. She followed him everywhere he went. If he went higher, so did she. If he went lower, so did she. Left, right, whatever direction, movement or motion he made, she mimicked. And it was pissing him off. So he stopped. Just stopped. Right there in the middle of the pitch, above all of the other players, making it look as though he had given up on his search for the elusive little golden ball with wings.

And with Cho's magically large brain, she did the best thing she could have done. She stopped too, about 15 feet to Harry's left. Harry turned his face away from her and cracked a grin. He didn't want the dumb bitch to see his glee at her move. He had essentially turned her into a sitting duck. Why was this the best move? Well, for her it wasn't. For Fred and George though, it was excellent.

Harry needed to keep her attention though. If she could see what was coming, she'd be able to dodge. He couldn't have that.

"So Cho, you must think you're something special, eh? Picking on girls like Luna to make yourself look better? I wonder how many of your 'friends' know that you would turn on them in a second if it was beneficial for you." Harry taunted her with the truth. The one thing that most bullies never want to hear about themselves, is the truth.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I was simply asserting my dominance over someone as insignificant as Loony Lovegood. She's nothing, nobody, and she's so weird. She has no right to be treated like something other than she is." She said all of this while looking at Harry with her nose turned slightly upward. After her little diatribe, she turned away from him.

Harry looked down at the field and the stands, and most people were looking at them trying to figure out what the hell was going on. The Ravenclaw stands were shouting at Cho to move around and look for the Snitch, but Davies had told her to tail Potter. He hadn't said why, but it was because Davies knew her skill level was vastly inferior to that of Harry Potter. So Cho ignored the people she considered worthless in this situation, i.e. the Ravenclaw House, and did as she was told by her captain.

The Gryffindors on the other hand were merely baffled. They trusted Harry, so they didn't question what he was doing. After Cho had turned her head, Harry caught the eye of George, and gave him a nod. George then signaled to Fred, and when the bludgers came their way, they cocked their arms back and swung.

"HEY!" Harry yelled at Cho as he floated a bit closer to her. She turned her head to look at him. "I heard you had to suck Rogers' cock to get this spot on the team. Probably true, isn't it?"

Cho's face turned a deep scarlet as she got angry. The perfect reaction that Harry was looking for. "LISTEN HERE YOU STUPID LITTLE ASSHOLE! I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE HAS SAID, I GOT THIS SPOT ON MY OWN ABILI-"

BAM! A bludger to the face and one to the ribs. The sight was, to Harry's eyes, glorious. He could see teeth flying and blood spraying from her mouth. The snapping of her ribs echoed through the air, and the "oooooh's" rang out from the crowd, intermingled with a few screams.

She plummeted. Hurtling toward the earth at breakneck speeds, Harry just sat there watching. He didn't move a muscle, not caring one bit if she survived.

Luckily for Cho, Madam Hooch had seen the hit and whipped out her wand, casting a spell to slow the girl down before she slammed against the solid ground. The whistle shrilled, bringing the game to a halt. Davies was screaming for a foul, wanting penalty shots, but Hooch put him in his place saying that the girl shouldn't have been stupid enough to stop moving.

Harry took this opportunity to look around and see what was happening. The score board read Gryffindor-110, Ravenclaw-10. It was an ass kicking. Angelina had 5 goals, while Katie and Alicia each had 3. The one goal for Ravenclaw was scored by Roger Davies.

Harry was observing the crowd, and most people were watching the commotion near the ground. Harry's eyes moved over towards the teacher's section when he caught sight of something surprising. A mangy black dog. Grim-like in a appearance. It was sitting right next to Headmaster Dumbledore. Harry nearly fell off of his broom in surprise. Regaining his composure, he floated over towards the older man, and as he got closer, the dog started wagging his tail. Harry, not wanting to fly into any of the teachers' heads, went over them until he was floating a few feet above and in front of Dumbledore.

"Professor," he asked looking for answers, "why is S-…Snuffles here? I thought he was supposed to stay at home in the kennel?" He gave a significant look at the dog who simply wagged his tail in response, basically saying to Harry that he didn't care. He was glad to be out of the house.

"Oh it's nothing to worry about Harry. He just wanted some fresh air, and I thought it would be a nice treat if he could see you in your most natural environment. The sky." This was the response from the Headmaster, who had that everlasting twinkle in his eye.

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"Of course, of course. Everything is fine, my boy, just fine and dandy. Nothing at all to worry about." This didn't completely placate the young wizard, but he trusted Dumbledore in this, so he let it go. The dog gave a bark of happiness, and Harry heard the whistle blow, signaling the restart of match. He floated away, and started circling the pitch, noticing that a young boy, 4th year at most, was now following him at a distance. This was, obviously, the backup Seeker. The other three houses had one, but Gryffindor, so confident (a bit overconfident in fact) in Harry's ability to recover from injury, decided they didn't need one.

Harry had nothing against this other kid. In fact, Harry wasn't sure he had ever seen the guy before, so he figured he would leave the nerve wracked rookie to himself.

The score climbed to 180-40. It had been only ten minutes since Cho's fall, and Ravenclaw was settling in a little bit, but not nearly enough to combat the skill and teamwork of Gryffindor.

It showed itself like a teasing fairy. A glint of light on the far side of the field, spiraling quickly down the goal posts on Ravenclaw's side of the field. Harry took off. The new boy, having no idea what was happening at first, hesitated, losing himself valuable time. Harry dove down toward the playing level, weaving in and out of players, flying in the way of the Ravenclaw chasers, just to bother them and throw off their concentration. The beaters tried to aim at him, but only ended up causing some close calls with their teammates.

As he neared it, the Snitch seemed to sense his approach and shot toward the sky. He chased after it on his Firebolt, leaving his opponent far behind. As the Snitch flew higher towards the clouds, he gained on it. Soon, the Snitch disappeared into the puffy grey sea. It shot sideways instead of climbing so that he leveled out. He hoped that there weren't any birds or low flying planes (doubtful this far north) because he didn't want to be running into anything.

Right as he caught the snitch, he felt two things. Distinct and separate, yet undeniably connected.

The first was a bone piercing and spine tingling cold. Hard, fierce, and terrifying. The second was Déjà vu. He experienced the second, because he knew what the first meant.

He turned to look behind him, and out of the grey, came a horde of Dementors, mouths open and ready to feed.

'Oh SHIT!' And he dove toward the field while yelling, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A stag erupted from his wand, and gave him a little time, but he knew that this was going to be big trouble. He broke through the bottom of the clouds and the sight that greeted him was not one that he wanted to see.

The field was awash in color. The light of spells flying from the wands of Death Eaters, students, and teachers lit the area like a Christmas Tree. Harry had only one thought.

'This is bad…really really bad.'

A/N: I realize that September was pretty non-existent in this fic, but I'm not the best writer when it comes to planning, and it's too late to change things. Sorry for that. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. This was more of a set up chapter. I was going to make it longer, but I thought this was a good place to stop, so that you all could have a chapter. I'll get the next one up as soon as I can.


	9. Chapter 9

A Dish Best Served Cold Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews for last chapter. I really appreciate the ones that pointed out the plot hole, which I went back and fixed. Life is actually still busier than I thought, but I will still work on this. Here's the fight. Enjoy.

**One Hour Earlier**

Voldemort stood before his Death Eaters, their numbers over 200 strong. His plan, he thought, was great, and was bound to succeed. He had worked with his inner circle for two weeks to lay out what he was going to do.

"Today, we will strike fear into the hearts of all those that stand against us. All those who believe that those of lesser blood have any place in this world, shall fall! We will take Azkaban and bring the dementors to our side, where they belong. With their help, and our growing numbers, we will soon have complete and utter victory over all who oppose us. Now, we go to Azkaban. All those who are sympathetic to our cause, or who are willing to fight in exchange for freedom, shall be recruited. Those that are not," he paused, "kill them."

The clock struck 9, and as the bells started chiming, the portkeys being held by the Death Eaters activated. Thankfully for them, they had an inside man that would be lowering the wards for a one minute window, during which any and all transport into the prison was possible. Voldemort watched them go, and turned to look at his inner circle. "We are at a moment, when everything will shift. This day will be the turning point that will take us into a new era and a new empire." With that, they apparated away.

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Harry was in a tight spot. He was working hard to keep the dementors focused on him, and not on the vast number of vulnerable students below. His problem was that he only had one Patronus, and there were a lot of dementors. "Expecto Patronum! Prongs, keep them together!"

The professors had their hands full, battling to protect both the students and themselves from the attacks launched by Death Eaters. Then they heard the screams. The students were starting to be affected by the dementors, but fortunately for them, so were the Death Eaters. This gave the teachers an opportunity to cast some Patroni of their own. Dumbledore's phoenix, McGonagall's cougar, Snape's serpent, and even Flitwick's bunny rabbit, all helped to fight off the dementor's. It would only hold them off for a short amount of time, but at this point, something was better than nothing. It always was with dementors.

Down in the pandemonium, a red haired student caught sight of its prey. This chaos offered the perfect chance to advance the plan. A wicked smile grew stretched across the face of the predator.

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**Ministry of Magic**

Kingsley Shacklebolt sprinted to the office of Amelia Bones. He had just received a distress call. It had come from Hogwarts. It was bad enough that they were being attacked by Death Eaters, but they were also claiming that there were dementors. This was bad news. They needed to get a response team out before Fudge heard. He would start talking about how it was a lie, and how the dementors were still under the Ministry's control.

Kingsley had no idea of the truth of the matter, but if they were being attacked and it was let go, children could be hurt or killed, and then angry parents we be calling for their heads.

"Amelia, we've just received a distress call from Hogwarts. They say there are Death Eaters and dementors!" Kingsley said, trying to catch his breath.

Amelia Bones was not a fast or quick woman. An injury she had received back in the first war had made it hard for her to move at more than a moderately quick walk, but right now, she was shooting out of that chair and heading for the door. She had a niece, Susan, at Hogwarts. The girl was precious to her. She wouldn't be letting anything happen, if she could help it. Not if she could help it.

They left the office quickly, and were about to make a call for all available hands, when in interdepartmental notice came flying into the room. Nothing special, until it opened and started speaking.

"You have all been called for a special training session. It will take place on the indoor Quidditch Pitch in the Department of Sports and Games. Please make your way there immediately. Thank you!" The voice was that of Minister Fudge. It was odd that he would make such an announcement. Things like that were usually delegated to lower level people.

As the members of the Department looked around, confused, they also started to get up and go. You may or may not like the man, but if he gives an order, you don't just slouch around. Amelia needed them though.

"HOLD UP!" Everyone stopped moving. "We're needed at Hogwarts. They're being attacked by Death Eaters and dementors. I need every available field officer possible." She said in a loud and commanding voice.

"Madam," spoke one of the Aurors, "why would Death Eaters be attacking when You-Know-Who hasn't returned. And the dementors work for us. I would bet my job on the fact that they aren't attacking Hogwarts." He said all of this with a smug air about him, and a slight smirk on his face as if he had just gotten one over on her.

"SHUT YOUR TRAP DAILEY! As for that bet, I'll take it. You can stay here while everyone else goes to help. I don't give two shits if you think You-Know-Who is back or not, but if they are being attacked and we ignore it over politics, the deaths of those students will be on our hands." With that, everyone started heading the opposite direction toward the floo system and portkey and apparation launching points. It was clear from the tone of urgency in her voice that she honestly believed what she was saying. And that was serious.

Amelia watched as most of her Aurors, except those that were administrators, on leave, or couldn't go for whatever other reason, left and headed for Hogwarts. She turned to Kingsley and asked, "Do you have your broomstick?" Kingsley nodded. He kept it shrunken and in his pocket wherever he went. He used to be a chaser for Hufflepuff back in the day. "When you get there, I want you in the sky. We won't be able to apparate or portkey directly onto the grounds, which raises questions about how the Death Eaters got there. But that's not important right now. The dementors are going to be in the air, and I need you to lend a hand in fighting them with your Patronus." Kingsley nodded in the affirmative.

Madam Bones held out the portkey, and Kingsley grabbed it, feeling the tug behind his navel.

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Harry was finding it difficult to battle these abominations. These soul-sucking, happiness-stealing monstrosities. They were swift, agile, and deadly. A combination that was not to be trifled with. Thankfully for Harry, he too was swift and agile, especially in the air. The patronus charms cast by the staff had helped greatly. With his one stag, it had been quite difficult to keep the dementors in one area. However, the other patroni seemed to know what Harry wanted them to do, and they corralled the creatures closer together.

Harry's big problem now was that the Patroni couldn't last forever. Flitwick's had already dissipated, and Snape's and McGonagall's were fading fast. Dumbledore's was the only one holding strong, but even that one wasn't as luminous as it had started out. Harry was able to recast his Patronus, so it stayed strong, but doing the majority of the attacking, it wasn't able to last as long.

Harry was preparing to cast another patronus when he was blind-sided. A dementor had slipped away from the pack and slammed into his side, grasping at Harry with its long and cold fingers. The force of the impact sent Harry flying off of his broom. He was tumbling through the air, trying desperately to keep his face away from the dementor's. He liked his soul just where it was. Its rotten breath made him want to vomit, but now wasn't really the best time for that.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" The spell burst forth from his wand, slamming into the 'stomach' of the grim reaper looking… thing. The dementor let out an unearthly screech and let go of Harry, flying away from the falling boy. But now he had a problem. He was falling for the ground, and he had no way to save himself from his impending doom. After all, it wasn't the fall that killed you, it was the sudden stop.

He had been fairly high in the air when he was fighting the horde, so he had time to look around for his broom. He didn't see it, so, knowing he could just summon it, he yelled "Accio Firebolt!" He would have just yelled accio broom, but that would have brought him every broom in the area, including the brooms that the Quidditch players had been using. He was falling fast, and there was no sign of his broom. He was outside of the stadium, so he wouldn't land in the middle of the fighting. It was also why no one was able to slow him down with a spell. They couldn't see him. Now he was getting worried. The earth was coming at him quick.

Luckily for him, 100 feet from the ground, the broom came zooming up to him. He grabbed it immediately and threw his leg over it, quickly pulling the broom level forty feet from the ground. He took a moment to gather himself and catch his breath, before he swung around on his and charged back at the dementors. He didn't notice the empty smoldering cloak that lay on the grass beneath him. But that didn't really matter. He noticed that help had arrived, and couldn't help but smile.

Kingsley landed on the ground after the portkey was done ripping him through space. A moment to orient himself was all he needed before he had his broom out, unshrunken and under him, taking him at top speed toward the Quidditch pitch. 15 seconds later, he could see a cloud of black. Five seconds after that, he was firing his first patronus. "Expecto Patronum!" A Rhinoceros came charging out of his wand, slamming into the nearest dementor the moment it was close enough.

The dementors, seeing this new threat, and already being frustrated at failing their mission, which was to literally suck the life out of Harry Potter, had had enough. They hadn't even been able to go down and feast on the hormonal souls of the teenage students. A loud screech sounded from the center of the group, and before either Harry or Shacklebolt had a chance to do or say anything, the dementors compacted into a spiraling mass, and rocketed into the clouds. Harry was about to give chase in the heat of the moment, but Kingsley's call gave him pause, before he realized how foolish that would be. They had won.

"Alright there Harry?" Kingsley inquired. Harry, catching his breath, took a moment to respond. "Yeah, I'm fine. How did you guys know what was going on?"

"Well, he always have at least one undercover Auror stationed here on game days, because of the risk of having everyone in the same place at the same time. It was a good thing we responded so fast too, otherwise-" he stopped because he had just noticed it. The glowing green skull with a snake tongue that was the Dark Mark.

"Shit! There's been a death." Harry, upon hearing those grave words, took off for the stadium. Shacklebolt followed, but couldn't keep up. Harry was like lightning on a broom. Harry was halfway back to the stadium when he heard a collective scream from the students. Worried now that the dementors had faked their escape and attacked the student body, Harry laid against his broom to squeeze out of it any extra speed he could. The wind, which had picked up quite a bit since the attack had begun, was jarring him from side to side as he flew, but he held steady.

He made it back to the stadium, flying up over the walls, and the site that met his eyes was bad. The seats where the students had been sitting were full of blast marks. It looked as though some of the students had escaped down the stairs, while others, most of whom were from Harry's PDC, were attempting to fight back. It wasn't going well. And to make things worse, he spotted the thing that had caused the students to scream. Engaged in battle with the staff was the Inner Circle and the lizard-lipped snakey snake himself, Voldemort. Harry, seeing that the students were more in need of his help than the staff, took off for the pitch, where many of the Death Eaters were.

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Voldemort and Dumbledore were trading spells at a blinding speed, the power of which could be felt by those standing nearby. But spells were not the only thing flying back and forth. There were words launching from the lips of each.

"You could have been great, Tom. You could have done so much good in the world." Said Dumbledore, with a disappointed countenance.

"You old fool. I AM GREAT! I am doing so much good in the world. I am eliminating muggles and mudbloods, as should be done. They have no right to live in this world, to share our magic. They are dirty, unclean, infidels to our righteous power. Just because you have a foolish and naïve view of what 'good' truly is, doesn't mean that I am failing." Had his words been objects, they would have been razor blades that cut his lips on their way out. The sharpness and fury of his words was evident. The spells that accompanied them helped to get his point across. He wasn't going for the kill, he was trying to maim Dumbledore with all sorts of disfiguring spells.

"No, Tom. It is you who is naïve for believing that muggleborns are in any way less of a witch or wizard than you or me. It is you who is foolish to think that our bloodlines will not eventually become stagnant with all of the inbreeding. We need the muggles. They will not control us Tom. We-" He was cut off by Voldemort's high powered laceration curse, and his voice.

"Save it, Dumbledore! I know the speech already by heart. You recited it enough times when I was in school to know that the only difference between you and me is our methods." His words were met with a high powered light spell meant to shatter his bones. The only reason it was a light spell was because it was usually used as a medical spell in very low power to rebreak oddly healed bones. But with Dumbledore's power, the amplification could turn every bone in one of Voldemort's limbs to dust.

"I had a friend once, Tom. We were the best of friends, and we shared ideals. But he was like you. He failed to see my logic, and because of it, I had to destroy him. I've told you before, and I'm sure I'll tell you again, Tom. There are things worse than death."

"Oh, save the preaching Dumbledore. I know all about your old lover. He means nothing to me. I am far superior to that buffoon. To think that he fell fighting against you is truly laughable. But none of that matters, because today, I will remove the life from your body, and then I will move on to Potter. When all is complete here today, I shall take command of Hogwarts, and the world will soon fall under my dominion." He launched a volley of darkly-colored spells that rolled and twisted as they flew through the air. Dumbledore dodged and blocked them, before doing something that The Dark Lord was not at all expecting.

He laughed. Out loud. As if there was something funny.

"Oh, Tom. I always knew you had it in you to be an entertainer."

"WHAT IS SO FUNNY!? I _will _kill you and Potter. There is no other way this is going to happen!"

"You haven't seen Harry as of late, have you? You aren't nearly as well versed in the study of human emotions and body language as I am. I have seen a change in him that I once saw in you. The only difference is that despite the fact that he is in some ways like you, in so many others, he is far better. He isn't the innocent child he once was anymore, Tom. He is out for revenge, and if recent events are any indication, he is going to get it. The reason I laugh is because it's quite humorous. You have created your own end." With that, he resumed his chuckling.

Voldemort looked to his right, out on the pitch to see how his Death Eaters were faring, when he saw him. Harry Potter flying over the heads of his Death Eaters, raining powerful Reducto and some laceration curses down on the Death Eaters. Unfortunately for them, his amazing skill on a broom allowed him to dodge most of the spells shot at him. He blocked the others.

It was at that point that the Aurors arrived. Spilling in from the locker room entrances, the Death Eaters were now having trouble. Facing off against the Aurors, and trying to dodge Harry's spells from above, the less experienced Death Eaters, which was most of them, started to fall. It was just too difficult. Despite having superior numbers to the Aurors, they law enforcers had much more training and experience. It was bad for the Death Eaters.

Harry, having turned the tide of the battle against the Death Eaters, trusted that the officers could handle it. Turning, he headed for Voldemort. As he was nearing the powerful pair of wizards, he caught Dumbledore's eye, and nodded. The old man nodded back.

Harry launched an offensive against snake-face. "Reducto! Reducto!" Voldemort, despite being slightly surprised, managed to move aside to avoid the first, and block the second. Harry started flinging every curse he could think of, from the basic jinxes he had learned from his books, to Sectumsempra, which had been taught to him by Professor Snape. Voldemort would not recognize it for two reasons. One, Severus hadn't told the Dark Lord about it, and two, the Potions professor had only ever used it in battle, and he did so silently.

Suddenly focused on his flying foe, Voldemort was unprepared when he was struck by a spell from Dumbledore. It broke his ribs and pushed one into his lungs. A sharp pain ran Frustrated, angry, and in a lot of pain, Voldemort had no choice but to activate his portkey. He disappeared.

Before the battle, the other portkeys had been linked to his so that should he leave the battle, so would everyone else automatically. Despite being supremely confident in his plan, Voldemort knew that should it fail, he needed to keep as many of his followers as possible, which meant not allowing them to be captured by Aurors. He wasn't necessarily sane, but he was certainly cunning.

So, some Aurors were standing over many of their foes, while others were fighting the few that remained standing. Suddenly, all of them disappeared. Even the ones in bindings. Madam Bones, who had been engaged in a duel with a Death Eater possessing very familiar platinum blond hair, let out a growl as the man disappeared. "Damnit!" She took a moment to stop and survey the scene.

It wasn't pretty. There was a lot of damage to the seating, and there were some students laying on them, not moving. When she saw that, she jumped into action. "Alright! Everyone spread out. Get those that are hurt or not moving to St. Mungo's immediately. Portkeys should still work, so I want all seriously injured moved to the Hospital. Those with minor injuries are to be taken up to the school! We don't have all day people, let's get moving!" With that, she headed for the nearest student she could see, a boy in the first row of seating with his twisted at a strange angle.

'_It's going to be long day. I just hope no one is dead.' _She thought, as she went to help the boy.

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It was dark, but he could hear voices. They sounded familiar, but they were very fuzzy, and it was difficult to decipher the words being said. A few minutes passed, and slowly the words became clearer, and his head wasn't as foggy. He was still in that half sleep state, though. So, despite the fact that he could understand what was being said, none of it was sticking. It was all just floating away.

He opened his eyes, eventually, and his friends stopped talking. Neville, Lavender, Parvati, the twins, and a few other Gryffindors were sitting around his bed. Not too close, as per orders of Madam Pomfrey, but they were still close.

Harry smiled. "Hey guys, how's it going? What happened? Is everyone alright?"

He was asking these questions to Neville, who was sitting near his right hand. The boy became a bit nervous at Harry's last question, and the look on his face told Harry that something was wrong. "What, Nev? What is it?" Neville was silent, and this bothered Harry. Neville shifted to the right, and behind him on the bed was the pale and completely still body of Luna Lovegood.

A/N: Sorry for the delay, but fight scenes are difficult for me. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Hey, everyone. Thanks for so many reviews last chapter. It was brought to my attention that some things weren't covered when I thought I had mentioned them. Those will be addressed. I have such a bad memory sometimes. ^_^. Enjoy!

Harry laid there looking at Luna for what seemed like an eternity. His eyes just stared at her prone form, and his thoughts raced. He was thinking so many things. Who did this? Why did it happen to her? What would he do to the person when he found them? That last question led to so many more thoughts, much more graphic in nature than the questions he had been asking. After only 30 seconds, which felt like an hour, he turned his head away from her and stared at the ceiling.

He took a deep breath and laid there just looking up, while breathing calmly. Nobody moved or spoke a word, waiting for his reaction. When the words finally came from his mouth, they caught everyone off guard. They were completely calm, with a cold and sharp tone. "Everyone out. Now. I want to be alone."

They looked around at each other, trying to figure out what to say. The looks on their faces ranged from surprise to dismay to sadness. Neville tried to say something, perhaps to change his mind, but Harry, seeing the boy prepare to speak, held up his hand and gave him a look that suggested it would be best not to say anything at that moment. Neville, upon seeing just how serious Harry was, simply nodded and stood up. "Come on, guys," he said, "Let's let Harry rest." A couple looked like they wanted to argue, but decided against it. No point in angering the strongest person in the room, even if he was bed ridden. He wouldn't be that way for long.

Once the last of the group had left, Harry got a chance to look around. It was at that point that he realized what time it was. It was 9 pm. And he and Luna were far from the only ones there. The Hospital Wing looked as though it had been expanded to fit all of the extra beds that it now held. At the very far end of the Hospital Wing, Harry caught sight of a sad and heart breaking sight.

Body bags. There weren't many. In fact, Harry only counted three, but in his opinion, three was too many. Harry just mentally added this to the list of things that Voldemort was going to pay for.

Harry was lost in his thoughts, when Headmaster Dumbledore came in. "Ah, Harry, how are you feeling?"

The green-eyed boy turned to look at him, his expression not revealing much at all. His penetrating stare looked into the eyes of the old man for a moment, before looking away again, coming to a rest on the still form of Luna.

"What happened?"

"With Ms. Lovegood or with the battle?" the Headmaster inquired.

"Either. Both." The headmaster was picking up on the fact that Harry didn't want to say much, but was certainly looking for answers.

"Well, after we drove off Voldemort, you collapsed from exhaustion after using so much magic in such a short amount of time. The number of Patroni that I suspect you produced in such a short period of time strained your magic slightly. Then, you came back into the stadium and were fighting there. Poppy says you just ran out of juice, so to speak" Dumbledore explained. It had been worrying when Harry had slumped over and fallen off of his broom, but he had landed on the seats, and was breathing steadily, so the Headmaster hadn't freaked out.

"I see." Harry said. It explained why he couldn't remember anything from just after Voldemort fled until when he awoke. "And Luna? What happened to her?" Harry's voice was low as he requested an answer.

"Well, we can't be too sure. Her body was found near the Ravenclaw locker room in the aftermath of the attack. One of the Aurors had gone over to stabilize a beam that had broken and saw a foot sticking out from behind the door. He found her, and there were indications of a fight. Spell marks lined the walls. She likely put up a good fight, but she ended up being hit by a Back Breaker Curse." Harry's eyes narrowed in anger and a bit of anguish at the sound of that curse.

"Aside from the obvious, what does it do?"

"Well, in the worst case, the victim's spine is slowly twisted and contorted, until it snaps. However, it is a very slow and painful way to die because the magic of the spell keeps the victim conscious." Dumbledore had seen this curse in action in the past, and as such, disliked even talking about it. But Harry deserved to know. "It takes a special kind of person to cast that spell. Someone with purely selfish motives must cast it; otherwise it will not work as intended. Luckily for Luna, the person was most likely either not purely selfish or lacked the sufficient power level to pull of this attack. Because we don't know who it was that cast the spell, we have no way of being sure. We have only speculation." The headmaster said all of this in a somber tone, sad that a good student like Ms. Lovegood had fallen victim to such a potentially deadly and painful attack.

"So she's going to be okay?" Harry asked. Relief flooded his body as he thought about the how close the girl he was coming to care greatly about had come to death. Dumbledore's next words eliminated his relief.

"No, I'm afraid not. She will certainly live, but she will not be able to walk, and she will always be in a bit of pain. It can be managed, but there will be times when she won't be able to escape it. She should be able to sleep fine, but during her waking hours, she will have pain. It will mostly be in her legs, since the spell hit her low in the back, leaving her mobile on the upper half of her body. I'm sorry that this happened to someone that you care about, Harry," said Dumbledore with a forlorn sigh, "but there are always risks and casualties in war."

Harry turned his head away from Dumbledore. "I know. I just feel like I should have been able to do something more. All of the work I put in over the summer and everything I've been teaching those kids in our Defense club has been all for nothing apparently." The last part of that sentence came out as a growl.

"Nonsense, Harry!" the Headmaster said vehemently. "None of the kids in that group of yours died and other than Ms. Lovegood, only two were seriously injured. The rest came away with cuts and bruises at most. The three children that are in the body bags over there," he pointed to the far end of the Wing, "were first years. They were friends who had stuck together and were attempting to escape when, as far as we can tell, a small but heavy section of seating collapsed on them. A sad occurrence, of course, but we can take some solace in the fact that they were together at the end."

"Not much solace if you ask me!" Harry said angrily. "Who cares about dying together, when they haven't even had the chance to enjoy life together? Dying together is something old couples worry about, not first years that haven't even experienced their first Hogwarts snow!"

The old man nodded solemnly. His eyes watered slightly at the pain in Harry's voice and the fact that three children died so young, for what was, essentially, no reason. "You are right, Harry. I suppose, then, that we must keep them in our hearts, and remember them when the time comes to fight Voldemort and his Death Eaters, for it is they who are ultimately responsible for this."

Harry nodded, but didn't say anymore. His hands looked relaxed, but his toes, under the sheets of the bed, were curled, like a fist clenched is a sign of defiance, or threatening violence. After another couple of moments in silence, Dumbledore stood and made his way out, only stopping at the door to wish Harry goodnight, and walking on before waiting for a response.

Harry threw the covers off himself, and swung his feet off the bed. His bare feet touched the cold hard floor, but he hardly noticed. He pushed himself up off the bed and stopped for a second to steady himself. Slowly, he walked over to Luna's bed and stood next to her. He reached up and put the back of his hand against her cheek. He softly rubbed her cheek, noticing that she wasn't quite as warm as she should be.

He reached down and grabbed the blanket, pulling it up over her arms and up under her chin. He put his hand on her forehead, and stroked her hair slowly.

"When I find out who did this to you," said Harry, with a fierce conviction, "I'm going to do everything in my power to make them regret ever harming someone close to me. That I promise." He stopped touching her head, and was about to go back to his bed when he could have sworn he saw her move her head, as if she wanted him to continue. He stood there for a moment, watching her to see if she would do anything else, but she didn't, so he passed it off as his imagination.

He got back into bed and went to sleep, still a bit exhausted from the day. '_I must have pushed myself harder than I thought. I'll have to work on stamina. Just one more thing I need to improve on.' _He forced himself to end that line of thinking before his frustration kept him awake all night.

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The next day saw Harry awake at dawn and ready to leave the Hospital Wing. He got dressed behind the privacy curtain, and before heading to the common room, he walked over to Luna, placed his hand on hers through the sheets, and said a soft goodbye.

He went and spoke to Madam Pomfrey, who was moving around in her office, for a moment, just to let her know he was leaving. She did a quick check of his vitals, and seeing that everything was okay, gave him the go-ahead to leave.

Harry walked out of the Hospital Wing and started making his way back to the Gryffindor common room. Being that it was 6:30 am, the halls were empty, but it was a nice quiet walk.

He made it there in ten minutes at a leisurely pace. No need to hurry. He entered the common room and the sight that greeted him was an unwanted one. Ronald Weasley had parked a chair right by the door, as if waiting for Harry to return. The ginger haired boy had awoken upon hearing the door open, and, seeing his target, launched himself from his chair. He grabbed Harry's shirt and slammed the green-eyed boy against the wall. Ron's thumbs pushed into Harry's collar bones as he held the brunette against the wall. Ron leaned his face in very close to Harry's, so that Harry could feel Ron's breath on his face. He had to hold his breath because of the stench.

Ron spoke in a whisper, fearful of waking any of the other students. This had to be done quickly and quietly. "I don't know how you made it so that Hermione was healed by the time she got to the Hospital Wing, but I know you are responsible for it. You think we're alone in this school, Hermione and I? You really think we're the only ones that hate you? Think again. You had better watch yourself Potter, because your end is coming. Do you hear me?"

Harry didn't say anything, just gave Ron a flat stare. The red head didn't like this, and shook Harry, saying "Do you hear me!?"

"Are you done? Because I have things to do today. I need to be going." As soon as he said that, there were four distinct snaps that rang out in the common room, after which Ron dropped Harry like a hot potato. Ron fell to the floor mouth open in agony as a result of whatever it was that had just happened to him. He was making no noise, because Harry had covertly silenced him while the boy was ranting and rambling on about Harry's demise.

Our hero bent over Ron, grabbed the front of his shirt, and pulled him up to look him in the eyes. In a calm voice that was sharp enough to cut steel, he said, "I just broke both of your hands and both of your feet. Snapped them clean in half. This is only a fraction of my power. If you know what is good for you, you'll end all attempts to intimidate me or anyone else in this school. You are nothing. You're like a bug to be squashed, and wiped off the bottom of my shoe, so that I don't dirty the floor with your filth. There's a revolution coming in this world Ronald Weasley, and you will not stand in my way. Payment is coming to those who have betrayed and insulted me, and you are in my sights. You're absolutely right; I had everything to do with Hermione's miraculous recovery, but who's going to believe you? Hermione? Your 'followers'? As if I care."

He released Ron, stood up straight, and started walking toward the stairs. He paused at the bottom and said over his shoulder, "You should be glad I'm going to let you live, Ron. What you're about to witness will change the game completely, and leave the Wizarding World reeling." With that, he ascended the stairs, only to find Neville standing at the top, hiding in the shadows. He had heard most of the conversation, and was stunned. Harry passed the boy and didn't say anything. He just winked and kept on walking.

The rest of the day was a bit hectic for Harry. He went to breakfast with the Gryffindors at around 8 am, during which there was a memorial service for those three victims of the attack yesterday. It was a solemn and somber affair, and even the Slytherins didn't make a sound. Some of them looked disinterested, or even smug, but the hard gaze of their Head of House kept their lips sealed. After all, these three were innocent. They had been Ravenclaws, which was a house that was often closer to Slytherin in terms of camaraderie than other houses. Plus, two of them had been pure bloods from neutral families, while the third had been a half-blood from a moderately light sided family. In the big picture, anyone with a brain could see that their deaths were unnecessary.

The Great Hall had banners of black to mourn for the victims. The parents of the students were sitting at the Ravenclaw table, near the front of the Hall. The Headmaster and Professor Flitwick both made short speeches about the three promising students. One of the Ravenclaw second years, a girl who had spent a lot of time with the three, was visibly distraught, and was being comforted by one of the children's parents.

It was over somewhat quickly, and not many of the students could eat much because of the sadness in the air.

There were Aurors present throughout the day, walking the halls and the grounds, and there were grief counselors from St. Mungo's on hand to help the students who were having trouble coping with what had occurred. Some students, like the young Ravenclaw, took advantage of the opportunity.

It had been decided by the staff that the students would have Monday and Tuesday off as well to help cope with the emotions surrounding the events, and let the staff help with whatever needed to be done in the aftermath.

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Harry was doing a lot of writing. He was writing letters to people. He was reading books about stuff. He was thinking about things.

If you were one of the people Harry spoke to that day, and you asked him what he was doing or what he was writing, that was the most information you'd get. He was being very secretive. He was hidden away in a dark corner of the Library, surrounded by what looked to be legal books. He made numerous trips to the Owlery to send those letters and documents. He used many of the school owls, simply because he had multiple things to send to multiple places, and Hedwig was delivering a letter to Sirius.

He spoke to Dobby a few times that day, giving the house elf vital instructions about certain things that needed to be done.

After lunch, he called a meeting with the PDC, during which he told them a few things. A couple of those things had them shocked and worried, but Harry explained that everything would be alright, and that if they couldn't do what he had suggested, that he would be able to cover for it. Luckily for him, only three or four saw any problem with being able to work something out, and they were muggleborns, meaning that there wasn't much to worry about. Of course, he didn't tell them about his goal with all of this, but he did explain why it was happening, and he made them all sign a contract stating that they wouldn't speak of it until it came to light. The contracted stated that if they spoke, they were responsible for paying his attorney's fees. Considering he had the best and most expensive attorneys in the Wizarding World, they kept their mouth shut. No one refused to sign it, because that would just be stupid. He was a powerful wizard and he was, they all believed, the only chance at defeating Voldemort.

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Harry went to bed that evening content and feeling good about all that had been accomplished today. He had taken the first steps to altering the landscape of the Wizarding world, and it felt great. He closed his eyes, and slipped off into the land of nod, wherein he had a dreamless sleep.

The next morning, in the Great Hall, the morning papers were delivered in a flurry of wing movement. The papers were dropped on tables and the owls paid. And then the conversations and panic started. People who understood the implications of the headlines that morning were scared. Well, all but the PDC. Most eyes in the Hall turned to Harry when they saw it. The headline read as follows:

Gringott's Bank Sued!

Harry Potter Claims Goblin Negligence Resulted in Theft of Funds

Harry just smiled.

A/N: I know that a lot of the second half of the chapter seemed vague and a little rushed, but I was trying to tell you what was going on without giving anything away. No, this wasn't all planned in one day, it just all got set in motion in one day. For clarification, in case anyone is wondering. The Touch requires contact, as the name implies, while the poison from the needle doesn't. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you think. I hope I didn't miss anything again. -_-'


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Thanks for the reviews again. They keep me writing and help me improve. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

The Great Hall was loud with discussion, and the muggleborn students that didn't understand what was happening, were being filled in. The last time someone had dared to defy the Goblins in their practices, the Goblins had waged war on the Wizarding World. That was the reason for the last Goblin Rebellion. Hence the reason Harry was getting a lot of dirty looks. He had just unleashed what was guaranteed to be a shit storm.

"POTTER! Do you have any idea what the hell you've just done!?" For once, the person shouting at Harry wasn't Ron or Hermione. It was, in fact, Draco Malloy. "The Goblins are going to freeze our money, you uneducated buffoon! How are we going to pay for things? What are our parents going to live off of now?" For once in his life, Malfoy was getting nods of agreement from people outside of Slytherin.

Harry was silent for a moment, before responding. "You know, there is some benefit in being in my Defense Club, Draco. I'm sure you already know that, considering you are in it." This caused some of the more hard line Slytherins to look at him with looks of confusion and betrayal. "However, that's not what the issue that is worrying me the most. Why is my lawsuit against Gringotts front page news, while the attack on our school is nowhere to be seen?"

This raised a few eyebrows, and Harry heard a few papers rustling hurriedly, in an obvious attempt to find the story. Parvati Patil found it first. "Here it is! It's on the last page," she said, with overt disgust in her voice. She started reading the ridiculously small article.

"Yesterday, at Hogwarts, a number of rogue elements managed to infiltrate the school during a Quidditch match. The attack was put down fairly quickly by students and teachers alike and some Aurors were dispatched to help with the aftermath. Only a few casualties were reported to the Daily Prophet, and the parents of the victims have been notified." She stopped reading. Harry looked at her, before gesturing with his hand that he wanted her to continue.

"That's it," she said. "There's nothing else in the whole paper as far as I can tell."

"WHAT!? They've taken a serious attack and turned it into a joke!" Harry was boiling inside. This was ridiculous. Never in his life had he seen such a poor attempt at fact finding as this. "Why the hell are they playing this off like some amateurs did it? Casualties? They were DEATHS! And they didn't even mention VOLDEMORT!" Multiple squeaks and a hiss or two were heard at the mention of that name. Harry tossed his copy of the paper in the air, before setting it alight with his wand.

Pansy Parkinson spoke this time. Her voice was far more derisive than Malfoy's had been. "What are you, Potter, some kind of imbecile? Who do you think owns the Daily Prophet?" Harry was silent because he didn't know the answer. He had always assumed that it was privately owned like the news papers in the muggle world. "THE MINISTRY! You brainless baboon. You wonder why there was no mention of the Dark Lord. Well, it's because they don't want people knowing. And with you making your _amazingly smart _move to sue Gringotts, you're in a prime position to be the scapegoat yet again!" Her tone had turned from scathing to joyous at the thought of Harry's misfortune.

Harry shot up out of his chair, fuming and feeling as though he could spit pure venom. He stormed out of the Great Hall as a regal looking owl swooped into the Great Hall and landed in front of the Headmaster. It was holding rolled up parchment and stuck its leg out to be relieved of its light burden. Professor Dumbledore took the parchment and read it. The students, who had begun speaking again after Harry had left, quieted quickly when the Headmaster stood. "The Minister has just sent out a missive that anyone whose funds have been frozen in the bank may apply for aid from the Ministry itself. They will be giving enough to allow food and shelter to continue, but frivolous lifestyles may have to be cut back on." Some of the Slytherins groaned at this, but it was really only the rich ones who hadn't known what was about to happen. "He also states that any applications will be reviewed carefully so that unnecessary payments aren't made to families that don't need the money." He rolled up the letter and slipped it into his pocket. He made a motion for the students to continue on with their meals, and sat back down. He leaned to his left and in a low voice said to Professor McGonagall, "Minerva, I'll need to see you, Severus, and Filius in my office after breakfast. There are things we must discuss." She nodded and went on with her eating her food.

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Harry, in his frustration at the whole situation, wasn't really paying attention to where he was going. He ended up back at the common room and headed for his dorm. He went to his trunk and tapped it with his wand in a fixed pattern that he had created and, thinking the password, unlocked it. He grabbed the Marauder's Map and Invisibility Cloak. He could remember being attacked. It seemed so long ago. It was a good thing that Ron and Hermione hadn't ruined either of those items, because they were precious to him. He still wasn't exactly sure how they had gotten the items, but he was sure that the lack of a full on defense system for his trunk had something to do with it. He was learning to become more cautious at all times.

He put on the cloak and headed for the Room of Requirement. He didn't care about people knowing that he was going there particularly; he just wanted to be alone for the time being. He got there and thought, while pacing back and forth, "I need a place to relax, I need a place to relax, I need a place to relax." On his third pass, a door handle appeared. He walked up and wrenched it open after making sure no one was nearby. The map was clear, so he was positive no one knew where he was. Inside was a blue room. It was a soft sort of blue that was easy on the eyes, and very calming. There was a comfortable looking couch, with a table in front of it, and a fireplace, which they both faced. The fire place had a fire in it, and it was giving off just the right amount of heat.

Harry draped his cloak over the arm of the couch and flopped down in the middle, and immediately relaxed. This piece of furniture had to be magical. There was no way it wasn't. It felt like it conformed to his every curve, while softly massaging his body. He started thinking about everything that was going on. The attack by Voldemort, the lack of coverage by the Daily Prophet, his lawsuit against Gringotts, Luna. The last one gave him a twisting feeling in his chest. He was frustrated that she would be in so much pain.

'_I wish there was something I could do. Something, anything.' _He suddenly felt a heavy weight on his lap. It wasn't as if the object fell, more like it just showed up there out of thin air. He opened his eyes and looked down, only to see his family book on The Touch. He touched it softly, and then grabbed the cover, prying it open. In a sudden flurry of pages, the book opened itself to page 58. Harry's jaw dropped when he saw the title of the chapter. "Healing Spell Damage," he read aloud.

He sat there and stared for a few moments. Disbelief was all he could feel. This chapter hadn't been in the book when he had skimmed through it over the summer. Some strange magic was at work here, but he was certainly thankful for it. After recovering from his shock, he began to read. And as he did, he couldn't stop the smirk that stretched across his face.

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The Headmaster and the three Heads of House sat in the grand office on the seventh floor, in a silence. Professor Sprout had not been invited because of the potential for Order of the Phoenix related conversations. Snape broke the silence. "This is going to cause problems, Albus. Serious ones. I am beginning to wonder if he does things without thinking of the consequences first. I realize that he grew up ignorant of the ways of the Wizarding World, but at this point, it's not a good excuse anymore. He's what most wizards and witches would consider as being Upper Class. They expect him to have a certain amount of decorum. He's not displaying it." His words had no sharp tone, as they did when he was in class. Not even a touch of disdain. He was flat. Simply stating facts.

"I know, Severus, I know. But what you, and everyone else, must see is that he is doing so much more. It is impossible for him to come out and say what it happening, but the tides of change are coming in, and what's been written in the sand will be washed away. I hope your castle is made of something sturdier than sand." Dumbledore responded. He had often seen in Harry's mind, when the boy was younger, his desire for change in the world. Both Muggle and Wizarding. As the years progressed, he could see more and more that Harry was making the Wizarding World his home, and that this would become the boy's focus.

Dumbledore continued. "We have a bigger problem. With this latest move by Harry and the _Daily Prophet_'s blatant disregard of this attack, Harry will once again be painted as the Boy-Who-Lives-To-Gain-Attention. We were all here, and we all know that that isn't the case, but people will be disinclined to believe much of what comes out of Hogwarts. I could make a statement about the attack, but the Ministry has been busy with a smear campaign against my name. And if I know Cornelius, he will silence any dissention amongst his Aurors with threats of job loss, and possibly worse. In all my years, I don't think I've seen anyone so eager to hold on to their power as Cornelius Fudge is. So from here on out, we must tread lightly." He received nods of agreement from the three people sitting across from him. "I've already sent out letters to all the parents of the students, telling them to be cautious about what they say and do."

Filius spoke up. "Is there nothing we can do? Is there no way to convince the population at large of what is going on here? There must be something we can do!" The little man had quite a temper on him. You didn't want to get on his bad side. Dueling Champion in his youth, he would cut you down to his size if you crossed him.

"All that we can hope for is that the parents will open their eyes when their children write home about what happened, and that word will spread. Until that happens, if it happens at all, we must wait and watch. We will, however, continue to counter Voldemort in any way we can. This brings me to my next point. The Practical Defense Club." He got confused looks at that statement, wondering how he could link those together. "I will be requiring all students that the three of you deem competent from your houses, to participate. I'll be informing Pomona later. " Raised eyebrows were the response this time. "Severus, I will be asking you to team up with Minerva and Filius to teach the students a more intensive version of their curriculum. This will be a separate group from the one that Harry has already started. I have seen his plans for the group, and I wish to let him continue to hone their skills in whatever way he sees fit. He has their loyalty and they will likely become his own little mini army." Professor McGonagall interrupted at this.

"Albus, as much as I like and trust Harry, don't you think that it may be a little unwise for him to have a little 'mini army' as you call it?" She knew that Harry was a trustworthy boy that wouldn't abuse what power he had, but his actions lately caused a hesitation on her part. For a long time, she had been able to envision, in her mind, what the future would hold. Now, though, with the Wizarding World falling into chaos that it hadn't seen since the first war against Voldemort, the path was foggy. She didn't like that feeling.

"Don't worry, Minerva, he has the Wizarding World's best interests at heart. He will do only what is necessary to promote the well being of this society." If asked, the three heads of house would say that Dumbledore had a soft spot for Harry, and that it was too soft. Melting ice cream soft. Ask Dumbledore, on the other hand, and he would tell you that he simply had more information than anyone else did. After all, you don't become Supreme Mugwump of the Wizengamot and Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by being ignorant and unaware.

Rather than argue the point, which they had learned was a futile endeavor, they just let it go.

"Severus, I'm going to ask a favor of you." Professor Snape nodded at the Headmaster. "I'm going to need you to work on more intensive Occlumency and Legillimency practices with Harry. I have a bit of an assignment for him, and he needs to have top quality mental shields." The Headmaster gave him a heavy look, showing that this was a serious matter. Not that the Potions professor would have treated it as anything different, but the sparkling blue eyes that drilled into his obsidian ones, let him know that it was quite possibly, life or death.

"How good do they need to be?" he asked, wanting, and needing, to know how intensive to make the sessions. The Headmaster's response caught him by surprise.

"Better than yours." Snape's eyes widened at this. He could do it, but it would take quite a bit of time. "By Christmas." Snape's jaw threatened to hit the floor. It would take time that he now knew he didn't have.

"With all due respect Headmaster, are you out of your mind!?" Minerva tisked and Flitwick giggled a bit, while the Headmaster simply gave a placating smile.

"Some have accused me of that before, Severus," he said with a chuckle, "but in this matter, I am quite sane, I assure you. I realize that this will be difficult, but I will be informing Harry of the significance and weight of the matter, and with your new found rapport, everything should be fine. Work hard and the benefits will be worth it. That, I promise you.

Professor Snape sighed, but nodded. He was nothing if not a top notch Occlumens, and despite what he used to tell the boy, Harry was a very quick learner. This could work.

Maybe.

The Headmaster snapped him out of his daze. "Now, on to Order business. Severus, we must talk about your position in Voldemort's ranks."

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Madam Bones sat at her desk in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She was looking forlornly at the paper that had just flown its way into her office. It essentially told her to keep her mouth shut about what happened at Hogwarts, or she would be fired and brought up on charges of treason and attempting to promote anarchy. She was also to inform her subordinates of this, and keep them quiet. Knowing that she could do more good if she was here running the Department rather than in jail, she called a Department meeting.

Voldemort would later hear from a mole in the Department that he needn't worry about his return being made public for the time being. The Minister had the situation under control. Voldemort had unleashed a rare smile that came not from madness, but pure glee.

And somewhere in the world, at that very moment, a kitten died.

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At the Potter home in the Highlands, Dobby and the other house elves were working hard to put away all of the books, old weapons, and gold that had been removed covertly from Harry's vaults the day before he had sent Gringotts official notice that they were being sued. It had been difficult, but Dobby had been led down to the vaults by the Goblins and allowed in. The goblin had stayed outside, so he couldn't see what was happening. Dobby, having some connections with the Leprechauns, had gotten a hold of some fake gold. He had put all of the galleons into trunks, and shrunk them down before hiding them away in his pockets. He then deposited fake gold.

Dobby came out and said that he was ready to go. The goblin that had been standing a ways back to avoid the dragon came forward to check the goblin-magic-hidden plaque on the door, letting them know what the vault contained. It was a little trick that let them keep track of someone's finances in a more immediate time frame. It showed more gold than before, but it was missing the books and furniture and weapons. Knowing that Potter had just acquired many homes, he put two and two together, and saw no reason to report unusual activity. He would later wish he had.

When Goblins had originally set up this system, they didn't think about the possibility of Leprechaun gold. Why would they? What buffoon would possibly want to put fake gold in their vault? A very smart one it would seem.

Two hours after they left, Siferius heard a faint _ping_ and turned to find the source of the noise. There next to the vault door, the plaque, which he could of course see (no goblin magic could overpower a grown dragon), was glowing red, with a word scribbled across it. It read 'Empty'. He snorted, seeing that the human and his elf friend had duped Gringotts. A flame shot twenty feet from his nose, frying a bat that had flown by at the wrong time. Seeing the dead bat, he flicked out his tongue, grabbed it, and swallowed it. A nice little afternoon snack. And now, nap time.

***

Out on the grounds of the Potter home, there were three dragons. One was the dragon that had been guarding Harry's vault, and two of them were a Chinese Fireball and an Ironbelly that the Welsh Green had made friends with. When Dobby had visited the vaults, he had brought with him a modified Howler, which held a message in Parseltongue. ~_It's time for the world to change, my friend. I would have you at my side if you agree. If not, I understand, and no hard feelings. But if you wish to witness first hand a revolution, you must break free and come to my home in the Highlands.~ _Siferius wanted no part in being stuck down here for the rest of his life. Besides, what dragon wouldn't like to witness a little mayhem and chaos? He looked at the elf and nodded. Dobby gave him the directions on how to get the Potter home from Gringotts. After which, the large green dragon spoke to his two dragon friends, and planned an escape. One that would cause plenty of destruction and fear for the Goblins.

Filling the library with books, lining the walls of the training room with weapons, and sprucing up all of the rooms to make it habitable for living and guests, the elves worked for hours that day. The inside of the house became painted in blues and greens. Accents of silver, grey and white. The marble floors added a shine from the light coming through the windows. Dobby was ecstatic. He was sure Harry Potter would love this place.

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Harry awoke to find himself still in the Room of Requirement. He realized that he must have dozed off while reading. Taking a deep breath to relax himself, he delved into his mind to see what he could recall about what he had learned. Flashes of words ran across his mind, pictures jumped out and disappeared. Slowly but surely, he remembered most of the words and diagrams that had been presented in his family textbook-of-sorts. '_Oh, the wonders of Occlumency,' _he thought. Everything was arranged neatly in his mind for easy recall.

He got up off the couch, before looking at the book in his hands. He couldn't very well take it out of the room and risk someone seeing it. Before he had the chance to think on it more, the book faded into thin air, as if it had never been there in the first place. Hell, maybe it hadn't. Harry couldn't begin to fathom the full complexity of the Rooms magic, nor did he want to. That's what made it special. He left the room and headed for the Headmaster's office. While he wanted to go straight to the Hospital Wing and start, he knew it would be ideal to run the idea by Dumbledore first, so that Pomfrey wouldn't try to stop him. No need to cause unnecessary strife with the woman that treated him for injuries so often.

He noticed, on his way, based on the sunlight, it was about 8 a.m. While this would normally be breakfast time, because of the students having time off due to the attack, breakfast wouldn't be until 9, like it was on weekends. He moved silently through the halls and as he walked, he noticed his hands were bare still. He had removed them to practice the night before, and searching his pockets, he found them curled up inside an inner pocket of his robe. He rounded the final corner to head to the Headmaster's office, and as he was about to pull the gloves out, he heard a familiar voice.

"Ah, Harry!" Green eyes shot up in surprise, to find that slimy git Fudge standing there with a sugar sweet smile, eerily reminiscent of Umbridge. The Headmaster was standing next to him, looking not unpleased, but far from happy.

The young hero, having halted in shock, resumed his walk towards the men. As he approached them, Fudge extended a hand, which Harry took in a quite lackluster fashion that the Minister seemingly failed to notice.

"Good to see you, my boy!" said Fudge in a far too cheerful manner.

"With all due respect minister," said Harry, his voice flat and emotionless, "I'm not your boy."

The Minister's grand smile faltered for a moment, before he recovered enough to say, "Be that as it may, we have a few things to discuss. If you would kindly join us in the Headmaster's office, we can get this meeting underway."

Harry, impatient to begin with, replied, "Let's get this over with. I've got things to do that are a bit more important. Again, no disrespect."

This time, the Minister didn't even respond, or for that matter, bother to put his smile back. He just gave Harry a flat look, before turning and marching towards the Gargoyle.

Harry looked at Professor Dumbledore, who gave him a Mona Lisa smile and winked. Harry just smirked, laughed silently, and shook his head, before heading for the office with Dumbledore. Dumbledore's mind matched Harry's in this moment, both thinking, _'Oh Fudge/Cornelius, you really are something special.' _

A/N: Okay. That's the end of that chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. A few of the reviews from last chapter caused me to change up my plan a little bit. Not because I had nothing to go with, more that their ideas had merit. This doesn't mean I'm going to be writing whatever you want me too. Just what seems logical. Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing. Bye!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews. They are my inspiration. Okay, on to the next chapter.

Harry Potter sat there in stunned silence. He couldn't believe the gall of the man that called himself the Minister. Cornelius Fudge had just told him that perhaps it would be best for all parties involved if a peace treaty was brokered with You-Know-Who.

The Headmaster and Harry had both laughed at first, thinking the Minister to be joking, but when the portly man became red-faced in anger, they realized that he was completely serious. To which Harry laughed again at the sheer absurdity of the whole thing. Dumbledore on the other hand, did not.

"Surely you cannot mean that, Cornelius. Voldemort wants only our full submission to his rule and he will eliminate all those who he deems unfit to live." He was giving the Minister a heavy look.

"Nonsense, Dumbledore, nonsense. He promised to stop all violence as long as you stopped attacking him. It's very simple. All he wants is to be left alone. That's all he wanted last time, as well." Fudge was attempting to put on a brave face, to show that he was sure of what he was saying. On the inside though, he was scared to defy the Dark Lord, and considering he was partly sympathetic to the man's cause, he felt it was his duty to do as asked.

Harry's eyes bugged out at that last statement. "You've SPOKEN TO HIM!? What the hell is the matter with you Fudge? He's feeding you lies. He doesn't want peace! He wants world Domination. Or submission, depending on which side of this war you are on. You can't trust him!" His acid green eyes drilled into Fudges beady black ones, trying to drive home the point. It didn't work apparently.

"So says the attention-seeking pubescent boy, who enjoys being in the spotlight." Fudge had intended this to come out as a cutting insult, but it came out as more of a whining and petulant attempt at name-calling. Harry just shook his head.

"Whatever you want to believe, Fudge, but there is no way in Hell that I'm going to be signing any form of treaty with the man that killed my parents for the sole reason of defending themselves and their friends. You are out of your mind." Harry waved a dismissive hand and looked away from the pile of garbage in a sack of flesh, named Cornelius Fudge.

The Headmaster spoke up, "Is that all Cornelius? If it is, I have a few things to discuss with Harry in private before breakfast," said Dumbledore with a soft smile.

"NO that is not all! YOU!" he said, pointing at Harry, "I demand that you withdraw your lawsuit against the Goblins IMMEDIATELY! AS MINISTER OF MAGIC, I ORDER YOU TO DROP ALL CHARGES!!" he screamed, getting in Harry's face. Harry, who was fully displeased at having this man's mouth so close to his olfactory nerves, could see that the Minister was upset at having been denied on his first request. _'Trying a different tactic, eh Fudge? Well, jokes on you, pal. It's not going to get you anywhere.' _

Harry stood up, bringing himself to full height where he could look down at Fudge. The fat little sweat machine backed off a step. "Let me tell you something, asshole. One, no one, and I mean no one, orders me to do anything. I live my own life, and if you don't like how I'm living it, piss off and die. Two, I will NOT drop the charges against Gringotts. They allowed my funds to be stolen, and did nothing to stop it. Their security was severely lacking, and they care only about money. They have, for so long, been the bank that everyone uses that they think people have nowhere else to put their money. Well, you fool, they are wrong. There are other Wizarding banks in this country, even if you are too ignorant to know about them."

At this point, the Minister began to realize just how deep of a hole he was in. He had come here today expecting to clear up one issue or the other, and had failed miserably at both. Doing the only thing he truly could do at this point if he had any hope in succeeding, he dropped down on his knees and begged.

"Please, Harry, I'm begging you. Do me this small favor and I'll make sure you get the best training in whatever field you want from all of the best teachers. I'll even make sure you get a job at the Ministry when you graduate." He clasped his hands together in a pose of praying. "Please, Harry, PLEASE!?"

Harry's disdain was not hidden as his face twisted into an ugly scowl. "You pathetic worm. Get off the floor and have some dignity. I'm rich enough to buy my own instructors if I feel the need, and I sure as hell don't want to work at the Ministry the way it is now. Now, whether you are done or not, I am going to the Hospital Wing to visit someone who was hurt in the attack that you so conveniently omitted from the paper." He pushed past Fudge, who fell on his ass from his kneeling position. Turning the knob, he was about to fling the door open in frustration, but realized that this was Dumbledore's office, and the Headmaster hadn't done anything to him. He closed the door behind him, and could here Fudge break down and start sobbing, while Dumbledore just sighed.

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Hermione and Ron were waiting for Ginny at the bottom of the stairs leading to the girl's dormitory, when she came out. Ginny descended with a confused look on her face and said, "Good morning, guys. Was there something you needed?" Ron looked uncomfortable, and glanced at Hermione. The bushy-haired girl, the only known species of beaver to have such a messy bunch of fur, spoke up after a moment.

"We need to talk. Let's go somewhere private." With that, she turned and walked toward the common room entrance. As they reached the doorway, a seventh year Gryffindor cut in front of them and as Hermione prepared to unload a noisy diatribe on him, they heard a 'PPFFFFFFFFFFF-BBRRP". Hermione scrunched her face in disgust as the boy opened the doorway, passed through, and closed it, trapping in the smell. Next thing the three of them knew they were being walloped in the nose with a smell that was not at all friendly. In fact, toxic would be a more appropriate word.

Unfortunately for them, Jonas Willerton was known for his killer farts.

Coughing violently at the smell of rotten eggs, and dead fish, eyes watering, gagging and trying not to puke all over the place, the three of them ran through the door and got out into the hallway away from the smell, where they gulped in copious amounts of air, trying to recover. After a few moments, they were breathing normally again, and Hermione led them to an abandoned room two corridors over from the common room.

Once in the room, Granger performed some privacy spells to make sure eves-droppers (not that there were any) wouldn't be able to hear. She turned to Ginny, and said, "Now, when we found out that Luna Lovegood had been injured in the attack, we were glad. Anyone who sides with Potter deserves what they get." Ron nodded assuredly, and Ginny nodded hesitantly. In her heart she wanted to side with Harry, but it was only through her own selfish desires. "I realize you want to be with him, Ginny, but everyone is just a block in the road, an obstacle in your destiny." Ginny nodded more fiercely this time, and Hermione knew she was getting the girl hooked to the proper mind set.

"We asked around to some of our anti-Potter contacts in Slytherin," Ginny's eyes widened in surprise, and Hermione said, "Hey, this is war, and despite what people say about Rules of War, they don't exist. I'll team up with whoever I must to thwart Harry Potter. Now, as I was saying, I asked around, and they saw you trailing during the attack. Did you attack her?"

Ginny wasn't sure whether it was pride in what she had done, a lack of accusation in Hermione's voice, or a combination of both that caused her to say, "Yeah…yeah, I did. That bitch was trying to steal my Harry away from me, and that's unacceptable," she said, her voice full of a powerful, and perhaps obsessive, determination.

"That's good, Ginny." Ron had decided to speak. "But next time, what you need to do is come to us, and let us help you plan it out. So far, you haven't been accused of anything, so we don't think you were seen by anyone important, but you got lucky. We've got resources now, Ginny, and Harry is a tough opponent. Talk to us first next time." Ginny agreed, seeing that she had gone into that situation unprepared, but coming out very lucky. It had been a spur-of-the-moment thing, which they all three knew, but they couldn't afford spontaneous anymore.

"Alright, now that you're on board, let me tell you a couple of things we've got planned…"

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Harry wasted no time making his way to the Hospital Wing. He decided that he would just tell Madam Pomfrey, rather than waiting for Dumbledore. If Pomfrey had a problem with it, well, Harry just happened to know a spell that would knock her out.

He pushed open the door, and walked over to Luna's bed. He noticed that Madam Pomfrey was still in her office, so after saying a quick good morning to Luna, and getting no response, he headed for the nurse's office. At her door, he knocked twice and waited. After a moment, he heard the doorknob turn and the solid wood plank of a door moved away from him and into the office. Madam Pomfrey, in the doorway, said, "Ah, Mr. Potter, is everything all right? You're not having problems with your energy level are you? That can sometimes be a lasting problem with magical overexertion."

"No, no, everything is fine. For me at least." She nodded her approval, glad to see that he had recovered well. "What I actually wanted to talk to you about is Luna." The nurse's face looked sullen at this.

"It's so sad really," she said. "The girl has such a long life ahead of her. It's a shame that the rest of those years are going to be in pain." She shook her head, showing regret at the fact that she could do nothing to change this fact.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Her eyes swiveled up to him at this. "You see, I've come across a way to heal her." Pomfrey gasped.

"Heal her? Completely? That's impossible!" She had done more research into this matter than one would think humanly possible, and here was a student telling her that he could fix it? It was understandable that the skeptic in her jumped forward.

"Come now, Mr. Potter, while I recognize your magical ability, I find it HIGHLY unlikely that you can do anything about this." She gave him flat look that indicated that he should give it up. "I know that you have feelings for Ms. Lovegood, but it will do you no good to delude yourself with fantasies of suddenly healing her with your own two hands."

Harry had to keep himself from laughing out loud at what she had just said. While he trusted her, he couldn't exactly tell her that that is exactly what he intended to do. Luckily, he had some late back up.

"Why, Poppy, must you put down the boy's hopes so quickly?" asked the Headmaster as he strode into the room. "He merely wants to try and make the person he cares about better." The twinkle in his eye told her that he knew more than he was saying. She was ready to argue, to fight with him over this, but he winked at her, and she felt the desire to do so drain away. Whether it was a spell of some sort, or his ability to inspire confidence in people, didn't really matter. It worked.

The three of them moved over to Luna's bed, and drew the curtains. Harry asked Madam Pomfrey to turn Luna over, which she did. The girl was wearing pajamas, rather than those stupid gowns, so the blond's ass didn't pop out. He reached down, and moved the pajama top up her back a bit so that he could see her lower back. The focus point of the spell.

It was ugly. While the rest of her body didn't look twisted or awkward in any way, you could see the muscles lumped and knotted under her skin. From that alone, you could tell that her spine would be wickedly crooked. He sighed. This would be difficult.

He sat down where Luna's left hand was now that she was on her back. He placed his left hand on the back of her head, and his right hand on her back at the location of the injury. It was difficult to keep his hand there. The carnage was unpleasant to say the least. Before he started he said, "I know you want to be in here, Madam Pomfrey, but I'm gonna need to ask you to leave."

NOW, she was ready to argue. "I don't think so! You're lucky that I'm even letting you do this. If you think I'm leaving here by yourself, you're out of your mind!" She folded her arms across her chest, trying to look intimidating, but it didn't really matter to Harry.

"With all due respect, this issue isn't up for discussion. You must leave. Now, please." His tone brooked no argument. He was making it know that one way or another, this was how it was going to be. And coming from someone like Harry, it was a bit intimidating. Before it got out of hand, Dumbledore decided to step in.

"Poppy, it really is imperative that you not see this. For the safety and security of not only Harry, but of yourself. Besides, he won't be alone, I'll be here to watch over this." She still looked unsure. "You need to trust me on this one." After a moment, and a final nod, she left the curtained area.

The Headmaster put up privacy spells so that if she attempted to peek back in, she wouldn't see anything. "Are you ready, Harry? I'm not exactly sure what you are going to do, so if you need anything from me, just let me know, alright?" Truth be told, he was a bit worried. The Touch was a magic that was completely alien to him, and so he had no idea what to expect.

Harry nodded. His eyelids dropped. He focused on entering Luna's mind. He needed contact with her, because with her unconscious, she wasn't broadcasting. Even the best Occlumens in the world broadcasts at the most minute level. But those who are unconscious, not just asleep, but knocked out, don't broadcast at all, making it impossible to penetrate their mind without a manual connection.

He could feel the moment he entered her mind. It felt far different than his own mind. It was different than any mind he'd ever come across, as a matter of fact. Lighter. More ethereal. Almost, like it was there, and yet it wasn't. He moved forward a bit. Forward, while not technically correct, was really the only way to describe the direction he was heading. After a few seconds of that movement, he was surprised by an explosion of light. When he could see again, he knew where he was. He was in her mindscape.

It was an open field full of random varieties of trees. Everywhere he looked, there were all sorts of strange and exotic creatures that Harry had never seen before. He had found the treasure trove behind The Quibbler's fantastical stories about weird animals. He could easily spot the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. It was the size of a garden gnome, shaped like an elephant, but instead of a trunk, it had a… well, a crumpled horn pointing down from its mouth. It made no sense, but he was sure that it did to Luna, for whatever reason.

He kept going. He wasn't sure exactly what he was looking for, but he knew he'd recognize it when he found it.

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Cornelius Fudge sat in his office in a panic. He had two fire-calls to make, both of which were sure to get him in trouble in one way or another. One was likely to cause problems that would cost him his job, while the other was sure to make him shit his pants. Unfortunately for him, both calls had to be made, so it was really a matter of when exactly he wanted to dirty his trousers.

Sighing, he decided to call the goblins first. They had given him the ultimatum of, and I quote, "Get the charges dropped, or we will be at war once again, and your head will be the first to adorn our pikes." Well, Fudge had already made plans to flee the country tonight. He knew that he had one last thing to do for the Dark Lord, but that was easily accomplished when he called.

He sighed. Long ago, when he had first become Minister, Dumbledore had recited a muggle quote to him. He had, to Dumbledore's face, accepted it, but in his heart… well, it had no place in his heart. He had pushed it out of his mind, and only now did it come back to him. It haunted him now. He swore to himself that he had to survive, because he certainly didn't want to die with those words bouncing around in his head, telling him how he had gotten hear.

He grabbed a pinch of floo powder and threw it in, yelling, "Gringott's Bank", and stuck his head in, even as those words echoed in his brain in the voice of Albus Dumbledore.

"Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

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Harry had found the problem. And really, he couldn't help but laugh. Not at the fact that it was there, but more at the way it manifested. There in the middle of the field was a giant ball of yarn. Tangled and knotted. Parts of the string were noticeably torn, shredded or broken. And next to it, rubbing its face into the yarn, rolling around in apparent joy was a Nundu.

Now, in real life, someone who came across this scene would laugh at the ball of yarn for half a second, and then, upon noticing the toxin breathing feline beast, be working overtime to retighten their bowels, which had loosened in fear.

Harry had to think about this for a second. And, quite frankly, marvel at it. Despite the malicious nature of the spell, and the life threatening situation it put her in, Luna's mind had still turned it into something relatively harmless to think about. It astounded him. Her kindness and warm-heartedness made him care for her even more.

He approached the Nundu slowly, seeing if it would respond with malicious intent. In the real world, they were known for their ferocious tempers, and the ability to fight off any less than 100 wizards. As he approached, though, the cat seemed to be completely oblivious to his presence. It kept its eyes solely on the ball of yarn. As if that was its whole reason for existence.

Aha.

The Nundu was merely a manifestation, not a defense system. Harry got all the way to the giant ball, and seeing that the feline still took no notice, he turned his attention to the yarn. He took a walk around the ball, carefully avoiding touching the Nundu, just in case that should have some sort of unintended consequences. Getting back to his starting point, he looked for the nearest broken string. Holding it with his right hand, he found the next piece of disconnected string. Concentrating on what he wanted accomplished, he felt the magic flow into his hands, and pulling on each end slowly, elongated them to the point that they were touching. When they came together, the strands that made up the yarn intertwined with each other, and the string became whole.

As soon as it did that, the ball shifted and shrunk slightly. New ends were revealed, and the yarn became a bit looser. Not so tightly woven. On the opposite side of the ball, the Nundu shrunk also, something Harry wouldn't notice until much later.

When the ball of yarn had shifted itself, Harry thought back to the most recurring message in the chapter he had read about healing spell damage.

'_In almost all victims, with almost all spells, the magic manifests itself in the form of a puzzle. It will be a different form of puzzle for different types of spells, but when trying to find the magic within a person, it is virtually always obvious. Only in those who have suffered a variety of spell damage or have used magic to enhance themselves, will the task of discovering it be arduous.' _

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Headmaster Dumbledore watched in slight awe as Harry's hands occasionally pulsed blue. Windex blue light would wash over and envelope his hands. It would stay for a few seconds, and then disappear. The interval between these occurrences was about a minute. If he looked closely, he could see the mangled bump under Harry's hand shifting slightly after every glow.

But he wasn't looking that closely. Not knowing how long it would take for the young wizard to finish, he pulled up a chair, and waited. It was 8: 24 am now. Breakfast would be starting around 9 am. Hopefully it would be done by then so that people didn't start to worry about a missing Headmaster. Oh well. If it took longer, it took longer. With that, he pulled out a book. It was a fiction book that a friend of his had loaned him. It was from the muggle world and was called Fight Club. Something about a bunch of men fighting each other. And how you couldn't talk about it. Or something like that. Either way, it kept his mind occupied.

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On his knees, a pitiful shadow of what he once was as a man, Cornelius Fudge begged Lord Voldemort for mercy and forgiveness. He didn't want to die, here, in the office that had given and taken everything to and from him. He only needed until tonight to get out. He didn't say that of course, but he was thinking it.

Voldemort, the master Legillimens he was, heard Fudge's every thought. Nothing was hidden from the Dark Lord. And, of course, he could have forcefully taken the information he had come here for, but why waste energy? So he asked.

"Tell me how to get into the Department of Mysteries after the Ministry closes." Okay, so it wasn't really a question.

The Minister, obviously thinking he would be spared, spilled it all. The passwords, the secret entrance, everything he knew. He warned that there were some things that he didn't know due to the sensitive nature of the work that went on in there, but he was sure that what he knew could get the Dark Lord in far enough to accomplish whatever goals he had.

The Dark Lord nodded, not in appreciation or thanks, but in satisfaction. He now had a surefire way to get to the Prophecy that he so longed to hear. He turned away from Fudge, who slumped in relief at escaping unharmed.

'_Thank Merlin, he let me live. Now all I have to do is leave a bit early today, and pack and go. Some third world country will be enough with all the money I've made as Minister. I can be the crème-de-la-crème.' _Fudge thought. Mistake.

Voldemort heard the broadcast, he stopped and turned to look down at the Minister. "You really think you are going anywhere, Cornelius? Not on my watch. You'll stay right here. CRUCIO!!"

The kneeling man hit the ground writhing in wicked agony. Suddenly, he stopped moving. Stopped screaming and twisting. But Voldemort knew he hadn't stopped the spell. He cast it again, and still nothing. His brows drawn in confusion, he nudged Fudge with his foot. The Minister didn't respond. Voldemort reached down and checked the pulse of the Minister, only to find that one didn't exist.

"DAMNIT!" He was pissed off now. It would be nigh impossible to maneuver such a malleable pawn into position in the time it would take for the Ministry to replace Fudge. Not wanting to deal with the disposal of a dead body, and needing to get back to make plans for his infiltration of the Department of Mysteries, Voldemort floo'd away, still not quite sure why the man had died. But he didn't care anymore, and he disappeared in a flash of green flame.

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After what felt like an eternity, Harry had finally put the last strand of yarn back together, and the ball vanished, while the Nundu became a harmless little kitten. It stayed because the subconscious records the history of all spells cast on the body. That baby Nundu was her mind's way of keeping track of what had happened to her.

In the outside world, it had only been about twenty minutes, and Dumbledore was distracted from his story when Harry began to stir. His eyes slowly opened the emerald green peeking from behind his eyelids. He removed his left hand from her head, and his right hand from her back. As he moved his right hand, a smooth and uninjured back was revealed. The Headmaster was astonished.

Harry looked at the Headmaster and spoke. "It will take some time for her to regain full strength in her legs, and she's going to have to work at walking again, but she should be fine otherwise."

The old man nodded in relief, and if he was honest, a bit of astonishment. He dropped the privacy spells and called for Poppy who came rushing in immediately. She stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Luna's back. If you had asked her a question, even one as simple as "What day is it?" she would have been unable to answer. Her brain had pretty much shut down in shock. For the moment.

Harry, shoulders slumped and dragging his feet, left the curtained area only to move over to the nearest bed and flop down on it, passing out halfway into his fall towards the bed.

The Headmaster looked at Madam Pomfrey and said with a grin, "An amazing boy, isn't he?"

She still couldn't speak.

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The day passed in a relatively ordinary manner for most people. Neville and Parvati had approached the Head Table at breakfast to tell McGonagall that Harry hadn't been seen since yesterday afternoon. Professor Dumbledore, however, had assured them that he was fine, but that their friend was sleeping at the moment, and may in fact be out for the rest of the day.

That only made them feel marginally better, but they trusted him, so they accepted it.

It wasn't until dinner when things got spicy. An unexpected flurry of wings and feathers disrupted their meals, dropping a '_Daily Prophet: Special Evening Edition' _in front of everyone with a subscription to the Daily Prophet.

For the second time in a few days, the students were stunned and in disbelief.

_**Goblin's Declare War on Wizarding World,**_

_**Minister Fudge Found Dead in Office**_

Talk about a double whammy. If you asked any of the students in that Hall, most would probably agree with the following sentiment: 'Shit's about to get crazy.'

A/N: Thanks for reading. The updates won't continue to be this quick. I just had an itching to write. But I'll keep working on the story.  bye!


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Thanks for the reviews yet again. They really make me want to keep going. I got one review in particular that pointed out some of the problems with my story, which I agree with, and I really appreciated that. So thanks. On with the chapter!

The article, for the whatevereth time in a few days, set of a storm of talk and speculation about what had happened, and of course, what was going to happen. According to the article, an autopsy was being performed to determine the cause of death, but early reports indicated a likelihood of cardiac arrest induced by the Cruciatus Curse. As for _why _his heart was so weak, no one could really say. He had always been quite healthy, despite his plump nature.

The Headmaster had his suspicions of course, but he wasn't going to say anything. His mind flashed back to the meeting at 8 a.m. this morning, and the handshake between the Minister and Harry. He thought about just how quick Harry would have to be, and was astonished at the boy's rapid improvement in his skill. Ask Dumbledore if he condoned Harry's actions and he would say one of two things: "No, of course not, but I can't prove that he is doing them" or "What actions?"

No one would be asking that question though.

Get inside the old man's head, and it's a completely different story. He didn't really care what Harry did, just so long as it worked to better the Wizarding World.

Make no mistake. Albus Dumbledore was not the type of man to care so much about morals. He was the type of man to _act _like he cared about morals. Of course, had had some ethical standards, which he needed to be in his position of power, but they weren't nearly as grandiose as the population of the Wizarding World believed, and that's how he liked it.

What he wanted was a world without Voldemort, a world without corruption, where he could spend the rest of his days (which if he had a say in it, would be quite a few) being admired by the population of the Wizarding world. Was that so much to ask? He didn't think so.

With Fudge dead, the Wizengamot would be called into session, either today or tomorrow, to determine the interim Minister of Magic. From there, they would have to organize an election to choose the next official, full-term Minister.

The problem came in the form of Goblins. Having not yet launched an attack, but preparing for one none-the-less, the wily little monsters would throw a wrench into the plans to get an election, with the necessary campaigning times, in place.

This was perfect for Dumbledore. Maneuvering people into the places he needed them had always been a great skill of the Headmaster, and if he could get a sympathetic ear, one like Amelia Bones, The Daily Prophet would soon be printing articles that the Wizarding World needed to see. Articles about the return of Voldemort. Pages telling about how the Headmaster and Harry Potter were not attention-seeking lunatics.

Truth be told, there were already pockets of people that believed in the Dark Lord's return, and they were preparing. Hogsmeade was one area where the citizens were fortifying their shops and making plans for any danger that would come down upon them. After all, it had been quite easy to see that Dark Mark floating over the school from the town. More than one store owner and shopper had pissed their pants.

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Late evening found Ron, Hermione, and Ginny leaving an abandoned classroom in the dungeons. Not too deep in, so they wouldn't have to worry about getting lost. Just before they got out, however, a voice called to them. "Weasels! You two stay. We need to talk about something. Go on Granger," the voice said, seeing that she too had stopped, "we'll send them along in a bit. I wouldn't wait around for them, though. The dungeons can be a scary place." A chuckle resonating off the walls.

Hermione did not like the idea that the Slytherins were discussing something with the two Weasleys without her. For one thing, if this was about something that required intelligence, it should have been her in there. Those two were mistakes in a long line of intelligent redheaded children that Arthur and Molly had produced.

It also bothered her that they were purebloods making plans with purebloods. She couldn't shake the feeling that her 'dirty blood' was the reason she had been excluded. It was times like this, in these dark times, that she wished she hadn't been born with magic, or had heeded her parents' wishes to stay in the Muggle world.

-----HPHPHPHP--------

"So, senior Weasley, are you still wearing what we gave you?" the leader of the group motioned to the freckled boy's chest.

Long fingers reached into the cotton shirt that Ron was wearing, and pulled out necklace with an obsidian stone attached to it. Every 10 seconds, it would pulse, glowing more darkly in an extremely odd way that could only be explained wizards that were experts on magical gems.

"Good, good. Remember, don't take that off. Not for a single damned second. If you do, don't be surprised if everything we are working on goes to shit." Ron nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation.

"Also, something even more important. Tone down the yelling and accusing of Potter every time something happens."

Ron sputtered, ready to argue. He didn't get the chance.

"Shut the fuck up for a second, you damned idiot." The voice was not at all satisfied with recent actions, and in no way was Ron going to continue with his current course of action. "The moment you open your mouth and start hooting and hollering about one thing or another, you make yourself look like a lunatic. Not like Loony Lovegood lunatic, like crazy, off the wall, belonging in a padded cell lunatic. Paranoia is only acceptable in some people, and even Mad-Eye Moody lost some of his prestige because of it."

For once in his life, the words spoken seemed to penetrate his skull, sink deep down in his brain, and instead of fleeing from loneliness, they stuck. His nod shocked the group slightly, but well trained wizards and witches that they were, it was hidden from sight.

"Weaslette, we've got a necklace for you too. And with it, a mission." Ginny perked up at that, quite happy to be given a mission so quickly. She took the necklace from a seventh year Ravenclaw that stood next to her, slipping it around her neck. "Same rules apply," spoke the voice. "Don't remove it. It's even more essential for you, considering the significance of your mission."

"Yes?" she asked. "What is it? I will do my best to-"

"Shut up! I don't care what you have to say. And you're damn right you'll do your best. If you don't… well, we'll deal with that if the problem comes up later. Besides," the voice gave another chuckle, this one considerably less sinister than the last one, "I'm positive that you will thoroughly enjoy your mission. You'll _want_ to do your best."

Anticipation was palpable. Every soul in that room waited. He hadn't told anyone else about this, so it was completely new to all the members of the group.

"I want you to seduce Harry Potter."

Teeth glimmered in the darkness, a Cheshire cat smile gracing the face of the youngest Weasley. '_Oh, I've been waiting for this opportunity for so long. This is perfect. Not only will that being poor doesn't remove natural talent, but I'll get my love too. Freeing him from the evil grip of that crazy bitch Lovegood!'_

The only outward response she gave was a slow nod. Scary sight, actually, this girl. She could put a chill in most of the ones gathered. They didn't know that they were getting a look into the mind of a psychopath.

Truth be told, Ginny had lost most of her marbles back when she had been possessed by Voldemort. The way that spirit had rampaged through her had left her mind a grey Swiss cheese. She had maintained a fairly normal lifestyle with the help of the medications that had been given to her by the mediwizards/witches from St. Mungo's, but from time to time, her insanity shined through, practically screaming "HEY! LOOK AT ME!"

"Now, on to the next subject." Silence followed the statement, the next words being carefully considered. "Granger is in no way, shape or form our equal. As such, if she is to remain in this group, she will need to be neutralized."

Neither of the Weasleys quite understood what that meant, and the expression on their faces said as much.

There was a slight sigh from the dark corner that the voice was issuing from. "As a mudblood, she is below us. Naturally."

Despite their hatred/obsession with Harry Potter, the two Weasleys still had a deep respect for the Headmaster and, as such, tended to follow his beliefs pertaining to muggleborns. Ready to argue on Hermione's behalf, a raised hand cut them off.

"Save me the dramatic speech about mudbloods and how they should have equal rights. How they're no different than us, blah, blah, fucking blah! I've heard it all, and more. I've had enough of it." The hand motioned to a 6th year Slytherin, who handed Ron a bag. The voice spoke again. "Inside that bag, you'll find a collar. With the proper combination of words, it will activate, and the first person to touch it, or even better, touching it at the time, will find themselves wearing that, and a slave to person that spoke the incantation. Not to mention it will act in the same capacity as the necklaces the two of you have."

Obviously a horrifically dark object, Ron hurled the bag away from himself and towards the shadowed corner that concealed the speaker. Amusement did not follow that action.

"You don't get it. You do this or you become our enemy. You need us, and all of us are far more experienced than any of you. Two fifth years and a fourth year against us? We are some of the best students in the school. We are the children of Death Eaters, and Aurors, and Ministry department heads. You," the voice laughed, "you have nothing on us!"

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Harry woke the next day, confused and wondering why he was in the Hospital Wing again. Turning his head, he saw Luna sitting up in bed, reading a book about magical creatures upside down. She looked over at him, teeth showing as she smiled.

"Good morning, Harry! Did you sleep well?" she laid the book down on her lap.

"Luna!" Harry scrambled out of bed, moving over to where she was propped up on multiple pillows. "How are you feeling?"

"You didn't answer my question, Harry." A Mona Lisa smile gracing her lips. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes yes. Now how are you feeling?" She didn't respond. Just kept looking at him. "Come on, Luna, don't leave me hanging here! Can you move your legs and stuff?"

Her legs, covered in blankets, lifted one at a time, proving that Harry's adventure into her mind and body had been a success. She threw the covers off her legs, pulled her feet over the top of them and wiggled her toes, letting him see that she had complete control.

The green eyed boy breathed a great sigh of relief and hugged Luna. Her hands wrapped around him in return and they held each other for a few moments.

The blond girl pulled back, turning her face to kiss Harry on the cheek. Whispering into his ear, she said, "Thank you so very much, Harry. I'll be forever in your debt."

The black haired boy was stunned for a moment, not expecting the kiss or the sentiment, but he just hugged her tighter and responded, "I was more than happy to help someone I care about so much."

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Two days after the Minister had dropped dead, and the Goblins had declared war on the Wizarding World, things were still strangely calm. The former bankers had yet to make their move, and the Wizengamot was currently deliberating about who would replace the man.

So far, it was looking like Amelia Bones would get the job. For one thing, she was highly qualified, having been a Ministry department head for more than thirty years. She had a record of pushing the prosecution of even the smallest crime to the fullest extent, making petty criminals serve community service, and getting hardened criminals locked deep within Azkaban.

Most importantly, Albus Dumbledore was backing her. And his positions as Supreme Mugwump as well as Leader of the Light are ones that gain him a lot of prestige.

Her being in office would benefit not only the Headmaster, but also the Wizarding World in that she had been present at Hogwarts when the attack happened. She would immediately announce the return of the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Sure, it might make people panic, but it would also cause them to take the proper precautions to protect their homes and families. Those precautions would be quite useful for when the Goblins made a move.

Harry, on the other hand, wasn't waiting. He had immediately called a meeting of the PDC and they had started on new material, as well as beginning to work on physical fitness. It was important that, should they find themselves without a wand, or outmatched in a fight and stuck behind wards, they can outrun their opponent. Not to mention that if there is a situation where both duelists lose their weapon, having strength and the ability to fight would give them a distinct advantage over most wizards, considering the fact that physical altercations were frowned upon by wizards. If you can throw a punch better than the other guy, you're better off in the end.

He had the perfect teacher for this, but at the present time, had no way of bringing him here without causing a panic. After all, Sirius was technically still a criminal.

Sitting now in the Room of Requirement after everyone had left with Luna, Neville, Lavender, and Parvati, Harry said, "We need some way to make sure everyone is protected more thoroughly. Luna was cursed from behind during the attack, and I need to make sure that no one else is taken by surprise."

Parvati asked, "Do you know who it was? The spineless coward that cursed a comrade in the middle of a fight for our lives?" Her fists were clenched, nails digging into her palms. Many people didn't know this about the girl of Indian descent, but behind the façade of a gossip queen, she was fiercely loyal to those that were kind to her, and treated her with respect. It was one of the reasons she liked Trelawney so much.

Luna nodded. "Ginny Weasley." The girls gasped at that. Neville didn't gasp, but raised his eyebrows in surprise none the less. They had no idea of her connection to the actions of Ron and Hermione, because she had been lying low and keeping her mouth shut. "It was odd, because at first, I noticed that she was always nearby during the fight. Wherever I moved, she showed up there. I didn't think anything of it, though. I figured she was trying to stay near a familiar face.

"And then, when I made it down to the Locker room, she was behind me and I told her 'Let's go, Ginny'. That's the last thing I remember until I woke up." Eyes on the floor, full of betrayal. "Well, except for the pain. That was there for what felt like an eternity." Her arms wrapped around herself at the stomach, making her look cold and hungry at the same time, while she shivered.

Harry's draped an arm over the blonds' shoulder, pulling her close. "I wish I had seen this coming, but unfortunately, I haven't been able to get what I need from the minds of other people. Ron and Hermione are protected in one way or another. It doesn't surprise me that Hermione picked up Occlumency, but Ron doesn't have the patience or skill for it."

Neville had been wondering, "How long have you been trying to get in their heads?"

Harry's face darkened at this. "That's the scary part. I've been going at them since the second week of the school year, when I felt comfortable enough with the ambient magic of Hogwarts to actually go for it," he scratched the back of his head for moment, before continuing, "and this whole time, they've been protected. I haven't been able to get in to either Ron or Hermione's heads, and I didn't want to push too hard, in case they noticed."

Lavender spoke up. "What does that mean? What makes that so scary?"

Harry sighed. The implications hurt him more than he thought it would. "Occlumency is a difficult skill to pick up, and any artifacts that reproduce the effect, which is what Ron is probably using, are hard as hell to get a hold of. And expensive too. You need pureblood money to get it. Gold in quantities that the Weasleys sure as hell don't have."

"Are you saying," Neville interjected, "that they are working with an outside accomplice?"

Luna beat Harry to it. "Inside more like. Remember Neville, there are plenty of purebloods in here, with the money, time, and connections to get their hands on those kind of items, along with a deep dislike for Harry and the radical change he represents. And with the time required to get this stuff, Ron and Hermione have probably been in contact with this person, or group, since early last school year."

The others were definitely disgusted with their Housemates, seeing it as treachery. Not only to the Light, but to their own house loyalties.

The green eyed boy resumed his explanation. "It's not unlikely that Ron was planning on paying them back with the money he stole from me, but with that gone, I wouldn't be surprised if he's become nothing but a pawn in their plans."

"So?" asked Lavender, "What are you going to do? It seems that the best thing to do at this point would be to eliminate them so they can't cause anymore harm. You know, like with Umbridge."

Harry shook his head slowly, mouth drawn tight in a straight line, lips white from the pressure. "I can't…" He stood up and started pacing behind his chair. "I wish I had it in me, but at the moment, I can't bring myself to do anything to them. The memories of all of the good times we had are running around in my head, and make me feel guilty every time I think about getting rid of them for good."

"But Harry!" shouted Neville, "they were going to steal everything from you, and they TRIED TO KILL YOU!"

Harry's eyes hardened into chips of kryptonite colored ice. "Oh, Neville, don't you worry. I remember quite clearly what they tried to do. And they aren't getting off the hook. For now though, I'm working through the memories with a new knowledge of their motives, and I'm seeing things in a new light. The process is almost finished, and when it is, I have the perfect fate for them." His eyes half-lidded, teeth barred in a nasty grin, his visage was a harsh one. "In the mean time, I'll be speaking to the prank masters of Hogwarts to see what they can do."

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Potions class was as boring as it had always been, but with Neville working with Harry now, and Professor Snape taking the ignore Neville approach it wasn't nearly as hazardous anymore. They were working on a seemingly frivolous potion that was in fact quite important for their O.W.L.'s. The Hair Color Potion was rarely used, but hadn't been covered before this year due to the complexity.

Because of what the potion was trying to do, the magicks in it required careful manipulation of the formula, and so, much of the process was procedures that were new to the students. Things like infusing the potion with personal magic, which would help the potion bond to the user and last longer.

Harry had added the Thumping Oak bark, giving the concoction the proper ingredient to turn it green. Oak bark is often used to make green dyes, but for this mixture, a magical plant was needed, and so the Thumping Oak had to be used. It was pricey, being from overseas, the United States to be exact, and in limited supply. However, Hogwarts, being the prestigious school it was, got the items at a slightly discounted price. Of course, the supplier was not informed what it was to be used for; else they get the idea to refuse the discount based on the unimportance of the potion being created.

Needing to steep overnight, the class lined their cauldrons along the side of the class, labeling them with a slip of paper that had their name, and gathered their books ready to leave.

Not all of them could though. "Potter! Don't leave yet. I need to speak to you." His face had his classic sneer and his voice held no tone of any good relations. Neville and Parvati looked nervous, but he just made a face and waved them on saying "Don't worry I'll see you guys at lunch." They hesitated a moment, before joining Lavender who was waiting by the door.

He turned back to head to the front of the class, when Draco Malfoy slammed into him, promptly followed by the blonds' angry voice. "Watch where you're walking, Potter!" he said with a snarl. "Can't you see that your betters are trying to walk here?" He continued on his way, not waiting for a response.

Harry opened his mouth to shout at the retreating figure, but Professor Snape cut him off. "Mr. Potter! If you would, please." Reluctantly, Harry walked up to Snape's desk, but rather than tell him what he had been held behind for, the Potions professor leaned to the side looking behind Harry at the back of the classroom.

"I'm quite sure that Mr. Potter is capable of handling this on his own," he sneered, looking at the three Gryffindors that had lingered in the doorway. "I realize that you Gryffindors have an insatiable need to stick your nose where it doesn't belong, as Mr. Potter here has proved so often, but you'd best be on your way lest your house points take a hit for invasion of privacy." With that warning, the three Lions hustled out of the classroom, determined to wait outside the door.

With a flick of his wand, Snape had slammed it shut behind them. Turning back to Harry he said in a considerably softer tone, "Now, the Headmaster has asked us to resume Occlumency lessons."

Harry inquired as to why, and his teacher explained. "To be honest, all I know is that there is some sort of mission he has for you that requires you to have skills of Occlumency and Legillimency that would match the Dark Lord's." Harry paled at that, already seeing where this might be headed, if the visions he had dealt with briefly over the summer were any indication.

"I know what you're thinking, Harry, and I don't know if that is what he's going to be wanting from you, but in all honesty, if it is, and you succeed, the benefits would be tremendous." Snape's demeanor was not sympathetic in the least, the little speech being nothing more than cold, hard facts. Inside, though, he knew what the boy was feeling. All those years ago when Dumbledore had offered him freedom in exchange for his services as a spy, his heart had twisted and tightened, and promptly attempted to escape from his chest by pounding against his ribcage at a million beats per second.

He had come through it though.

"What if I fail?"

"You won't"

"But what if I-"

"You won't!" The words hung between them in the loud, ear pounding silence. "You can't afford to. I want you to be here on Friday at 7pm. That should give you enough time to digest what you eat at dinner, which should be something light. You don't want to show up on a full stomach." Harry nodded, remembering full well what that had been like back when he first started learning. "We only have until the break for the Winter Solstice, which is in little more than a month." Harry's face resembled a fish's at that news, but he finally nodded, knowing that these would be some of the toughest months of his life. He should have known it wouldn't be easy throwing a world into chaos, all the while trying to deal with a megalomaniac, and homework.

As he headed down the hall, he slipped a hand into his robe pocket, touching the folded parchment that had found its way there when Malfoy had bumped into him. It had been a smart move by the platinum blond, one that had been unplanned, but worked perfectly. Out of the dungeons, and on his way to the common room, he read the note. It was fairly short and to the point.

_Potter, _

_Despite my sudden loss of prestige, rumors still reach my ears, and a rumor is going around that there will be an attack by Death Eaters on Thursday night. I'll see if I can find out more, but it's doubtful. Weasley and Granger are quiet, but they did make contact with some of the Pro-Dark Lord Slytherins, and there is talk about Weaslette trying to slip you a love potion. Watch yourself._

_Malfoy_

Harry's feet instinctively turned him, carrying him in the direction of the Headmaster's office. It being Wednesday afternoon, he certainly didn't have any time to waste. The fight was coming and they needed to be prepared. There wasn't even any location. This compounded the problem infinitely. He just hoped it wasn't too late.

A/N: There's the chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. I called it the Winter Solstice Break because I always envisioned that being the more meaningful holiday, rather than Christmas which holds a rather negative association, considering all the witch burnings and what not by Christians. Also, I'd love any ideas about how to punish Ron and Hermione. I need something cruel and twisted, because, after all, they deserve it. I have a plan for Ginny, so don't bother with her. Let me know what you think. : ) Thanks!! Bye!


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Just a reminder that I don't own Harry Potter and it's EXTREMELY unlikely that I ever will.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. I got plenty of wonderful ideas about what to do with Ron and Hermione.

Over the next 24 hours, the Headmaster was quite a busy man, making fire calls, and sending out orders to his agents in the Order of the Phoenix, all in an attempt to determine the most likely target for the reported attack. It was true that the Order's own spy had heard nothing about it, but that meant very little now a days. Snape had, of late, been left out of the loop on many things because of his obligation as a teacher at Hogwarts. He was without a doubt still in good standing with the Dark Lord, but his uses were limited at the present time.

Hogsmeade was the most likely target, with Diagon Alley and the Ministry a close second and third. The Aurors were distributed accordingly, including going out to some of the smaller Wizarding communities across the country. It was a tense dinner on Thursday, because despite all attempts to keep it quiet, the potential danger had reached the ears of most students. The presence of some Aurors hadn't helped squash the rumors in the slightest.

Harry had called an emergency meeting of the PDC to go over plans on how to handle things if the attack should be at Hogwarts. It was doubtful, but it was important that people know where they need to be, considering there were a number of students that didn't have the skills to defend themselves against Death Eaters. Truth be told, even the kids in the Practical Defense Club couldn't fight a Death Eater, but it would be strength in numbers (hopefully) and it was better than nothing at all.

As Thursday evening rolled around, the student body was tense, many students eating much less than they normally would, simply because their nerves wouldn't allow them. Tight stomachs made poor receptacles for large amounts of food. Force it, though, and there would be a mess to clean.

The staff was on edge, and the Aurors were roaming the halls with wands out, prepared for action. By the time dinner was finished at 6:30, people were getting antsy. Harry included. He still couldn't figure out how in the world this had been leaked. It certainly hadn't come from him. The only possible place was Slytherin House, where the talk of an attack had originated in the first place. But at this point, it didn't matter, because forewarned was forearmed. Aurors in the hall would have tipped someone off at some point.

Students were ushered back to their houses after dinner, and told to stay in the common rooms or beds for the rest of the evening. If there was a reason they needed to leave, they were to inform the guard at the entrance, who would decide if the reason was good enough, and call for an escort.

As the night went on, being in the safety of their houses calmed the nerves of most students, and by midnight, most had dismissed the idea of a coming assault with much relief. Sleep did not come easily to many that night, but people slept none-the-less.

By the next morning, people were talking about what had, or more importantly, hadn't, happened. Wondering why there had been no reports of any deaths, and immensely grateful all in one thought.

Harry had looked to Draco Malfoy right away, trying to get some sort of answer, but the boy just shrugged and shook his head. If a person cared to look, which most didn't, they would see that he was no longer seated at the center of the table where he would hold the attention of most of his housemates. His father's, and subsequently his, fall from grace had put him on the outs with most of Slytherin.

Malfoy Senior, a month before Hogwarts had resumed classes in September, had gone to withdraw money from his vault to give Voldemort for the cost of potions that were required to heal the man's body after the ritual to return him from the dead. He hadn't been able to get them from his automatic withdrawal bag, and was required to physically go to Gringott's to sort out the problem. Of course, when he got there, he had been informed that he no longer had any money, and that the Beaufoy heir had reclaimed their spot as rightful Head of both families. The man had nearly had a conniption, but with the lobby full of other people, he held his head high, stayed calm, left the bank, and apparated away.

His neighbors, two miles away, would swear they heard the sounds of some sort of wild and savage animal screaming from time to time throughout the day. Poor thing must have been in some pain, they would think.

When the elder blond had gone to the Dark Lord empty handed, the other Death Eaters had instantly told their children about the shift in power within the inner circle. Lucius may have been a great fighter, but at that moment, Voldemort needed his money. From there, children of Death Eaters had publicly shunned Draco. The only students to stick by him were Crabbe and Goyle, the two doofuses being too moronic to know when to salvage their own reputation.

So Harry had to deal with the fact that Malfoy may have been given bad information. Or that perhaps things had changed, and he hadn't been informed. Either way, there was no attack, which meant no casualties or deaths, which was good. He resolved to question Snape during the Occlumency lesson later.

------------HPHPHPHPHP-------

Thursday hadn't been a waste. Not at all. In fact, Harry Potter and the Headmaster had reacted exactly how they were supposed to. Wickedly pointed teeth could be seen when Voldemort smiled.

He had informed his Death Eaters that they would be raiding a Wizarding town on Thursday night. Which town, he hadn't said, but he hadn't wanted them to know. They were simply told to show up on Thursday afternoon, and be ready.

As he had expected, his followers had immediately found some way to contact their children, and warned them to stay in their common rooms that night. He had wanted them to assume that the target was Hogsmeade, which had the potential to spill over into the school. Not to mention the possible opportunity for the young Slytherins to help the invading force if things looked to be going well.

Loose lips sink ships, but with his ship sailing in a completely different direction, he was perfectly capable of weathering the storm. As a matter of fact, the winds from that storm filled his sails and propelled him in the right direction.

While the government and Dumbledore's vigilante faction was spread out across the country to cover Wizarding towns and Hogwarts in particular, the Ministry had been left wide open. Not for destruction, since that would be counterproductive to Voldemort's long term plans, but rather for infiltration. After all, there was a prophecy in there that he dearly wanted. And thanks to Cornelius Fudge, peace be upon his rotting corpse, he knew exactly how to get it.

11 a.m. on Friday found leather legs sitting on his throne, surrounded by his Inner Circle, minus Snape and Malfoy. Snape because he was at Hogwarts, and Malfoy… well he had some mistakes to make up for.

The silence crashed against their eardrums, as they waited for Voldemort to speak. Heartbeats were pounded out on eardrums, eyes stuck to their Lord's hand, which held a glass ball containing some sort of fluid gas. A watery vapor.

Finally, words crossed those cursed lips. "Let us ssseeee what Fate hasss decided for usss." His hand made a sudden and quick motion, slamming the ball to the ground, shattering the glass and releasing the gaseous solution into the world.

Sybil Trelawney rose from the whiteness, and began to speak. '_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…'_

------HPHPHPHPHPHP----------

Harry used the specialized brush to apply his Hair Color Potion from the center of the top of his head, down to the tips that would normally hang down by his shoulders. The potion sunk into the hair, leaving no trace that it had been there, other than the now green hair it left its wake. Harry had let his hair out of its braid, and was carefully applying the potion, getting help for the back of his head.

The class had taken the weekly test earlier, consuming majority of the class, during which Harry had experienced an uncommon bout of happiness. With some strange sliver of kindness in his heart, Snape had allowed the class, with the understanding that they would behave themselves, to apply the potion to their hair. It would be permanent for as long as they wished; only disappearing after growing out, or the counter spell, which he taught them, being uttered.

Harry had performed a commonly known spell on his hair that kept it from growing any longer than its current length. And he really liked this shade of green. It just so happened to match his eyes, and his favorite outfit with the green vest. Harry had long ago stopped caring that green was a Slytherin color. It was his favorite color, and that's what mattered to him. Eventually, other people had stopped caring as well. It was just a color after all.

Finishing with the application of the potion to his hair, Harry asked Parvati, whose long hair was often braided, to do his in a semi-loose braid. He held on strand of hair from the middle of his head forward so that it wouldn't get pulled into the twist. The Indian girl looked at him oddly but he just smiled. She shrugged and went about her work. The green came down from his part like zebra stripes, and wound around each other in an intricate dance as it descended down to the end of the plait.

While she was concentrating on the braid, Harry removed the six inch four inch needle from his pocket and threaded his strand of hair through the hole at the end, before using a Long-Term Sticking Charm. It was just like the Permanent Sticking Charm, except for the fact that it was much easier to undo. It still held well though. Done with his hair, Parvati came around and caught sight of the giant needle in his hand. Her eyes widened comically at the sight, and Harry chuckled, but pressed his index finger to his lips, indicating that she should keep it quiet. He had already gone to some lengths to make sure that people didn't see him. Being in the back corner, with a Notice-Me-Not Charm on himself, it made it easier to put the needle into his hair without being seen.

On the way back to his desk to gather his things, a shot of pure anger ran through him, making him all at once want to destroy everything around him. Accompanying said emotion, was a vision of a broken glass ball, and the fading visage of Sybil Trelawney. His scar was tingling as well. It ended just as suddenly, but surprised him to such a degree, that he fell over, having lost control of his feet. Snape was five feet away, and was immediately at his side, making sure the black haired boy hadn't cracked his head.

Seeing that Harry was already getting himself up, with no signs of any head trauma (that he could see), he knew it was safe to hold his demeanor. "If you don't mind, Potter, I'd like to keep this class intact, without you making a giant mess and breaking my things. Merlin forbid you should hit your head on something, your thick skull would destroy it with a single whack." The Slytherins were snickering, while the Gryffindors just glowered, but Snape ignored all of it. He took a hold of Harry's upper arm, under the pretense of helping him up, but made sure he was close enough to hear the boy's muttered "Voldemort". Snape's response, in the same tone with motionless lips was "Headmaster".

Both statements made sense to their recipients. Harry had just had a vision for the first time since early summer, and it had to do with Voldemort. Snape wanted his student to immediately head for the Headmaster's office and inform the man of what had happened. No complaint was forthcoming from the teen.

Telling his friends that he was going to the Hospital Wing, saying he'd be back in the common room in a bit, he left at a steady pace. The moment he was out the door, his foot speed increased.

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He had been so ecstatic. So happy for that one moment, when he had finally obtained the Prophecy, defying the odds and getting the one thing that would tell him the future. As he began listening, his heart had pounded harder than it had in years, making him feel young and whole again, in a way that he hadn't experienced since his first murder.

And then the moment had shattered. Those dreaded words, speaking of a power the Dark Lord knew not. Of marking the boy as his equal. He knew what it meant. He wasn't the most powerful Dark Lord in, well possibly ever, for nothing. The pieces fell into place, and he knew in that moment that there was no chance to lollygag when it came to this war. He had to launch an offensive, and soon. While the sheople were dealing with the Goblins.

Then the rage set in. Anger at his own stupidity, at the lack of information, at all of it. He hated feeling helpless, and while that wasn't quite what he was feeling, it was pretty damn close. Too close for his liking.

Large rations of pain were generously handed out to all Death Eaters in attendance that morning.

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"Aha, I see." Albus Dumbledore sat in hushed contemplation, pondering the news that Harry had given him. Emotions, and a vision to boot, had made their way along the path connecting Harry and Voldemort, and inflicted themselves upon the young student. This was both a good thing, and a bad thing. It was bad, because it meant that the either the bond was strengthening, or Harry was out of practice. The latter could be corrected. The former could not.

The good news came in that it pointed to the fact that the connection still existed, and was at least somewhat substantial. For what he had planned in the coming months for Harry, it was pivotal that the connection not close.

The extended silence was getting to Harry. He wanted answers. This sudden intrusion by Voldemort, willing or not, had shaken his confidence in his Occlumency skills. "Well?! Why did this happen? Do mental shields deteriorate over time if they aren't exercised regularly or something like that?"

The Headmaster chuckled. "No no, Harry, nothing like that. From what you told me about the vision, the conclusion I've been able to draw is that Tom was likely, at first, quite ecstatic to finally have gotten his hands on the prophecy that he has so desperately wanted for so long. It may be likely that due to your concentration on the test, your shields were slightly weakened, and your connection to him allowed something to slip through." Harry nodded, calming down slightly.

The teen boy with startling green eyes wasn't afraid of many things these days, and while fear wasn't really what he felt when it came to Voldemort in general, the idea of that monster being in his head shook him to his core. "So later, when he discovered the truth of the prophecy, his anger was enough to break through?" he inquired of the old man.

"Well, I believe that because his feelings had already made it through once, and recently, the second wave had a much easier time passing through, and carrying the vision with it." This made sense to Harry, but made him concerned. That would mean that all it would take was one infiltration, and then the man, if he dared call him that, would flood his brain with whatever he wanted.

Not a happy thought.

"Well, it's a good thing then that I'm getting back to the Occlumency lessons. I don't want that asshole having any chance of getting in my head." The Headmaster nodded with sympathy, understanding the desire for privacy. "Professor Snape also mentioned something about an assignment related to the Occlumency and Legillimency?"

The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes lessened slightly, but it went unnoticed by the teen. "Yes, I have a request to make of you at some point, but think nothing of it for now, my boy. I wish you to focus on your sessions with Professor Snape, and this will only distract you."

It was a placating statement, while giving Harry nothing. It displeased him to say the least, but there was a 'no questions' undertone that Harry caught onto. So he would let it go.

For now.

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Ron Weasley was fuming. He had worked ridiculously hard on his potion, and even made sure that it had been done correctly when he added the Obaruvilian Orangutangia (Obarang, for short) Hair for his orange Hair Potion. It didn't matter that his hair was already a coppery orange color, he wanted it more orange. It was an obsession. A very strange one, to say the least.

Giggling and snickering was heard as he walked through the halls, but he ignored it all, knowing that if he let it get to him, he'd end up expelled after cursing someone to death.

He had showed up to Potions class today, and upon inspecting his potion, saw that everything was as it should be. Well, as it should be for the state he had left it in. It hadn't been perfect like Hermione's or Potter's, but it had been orange, so he figured he had it right.

How wrong he was. When he started spreading it around on his hair, it turned orange, as it should. Ten minutes later, however, it started going horribly wrong for the thickheaded Gryffindor. A clump of hair fell out of his head, and hit the floor, prompting him to reach up to his scalp and feel a giant bald spot. It had only gotten worse. He had done the potion incorrectly, which surprised no one, while providing plenty of laughs. The orange of his potion turned to pink, and his hair kept falling out. Soon, all that remained of the once full head of Weasley hair was a bald head, patched by hanging locks of fluorescent hot pink.

Riotous laughter had haunted his steps from that moment forward, the entire class holding their bellies, trying not to fall on the floor from amusement. The only thing that he had noticed that was good about the situation was that Harry seemed preoccupied over in his corner, and wasn't paying attention. He hated the rich bastard, but it was painfully difficult to deal with the verbal barbs that were sent at him from his former 'best friend'. The green-eyed boy's sharp tongue cut deep. He had asked Professor Snape for the counter potion, but had been met with only a scathing response.

"Counter potion?! Are you so imbecilic to believe that there is such a thing, despite the fact that I warned you beforehand that the only two ways to undo the color would be to allow it to grow out, or to use the counter _spell_?" Disgust was prominent in his voice and on his face. Onyx eyes alight with a black flame that scared the second youngest Weasley out of his wits. "I most certainly won't be giving you that spell, if you were too stupid to pay attention at the beginning of class when I told everyone what it was." He turned to the class. His rage at the incompetence of this boy was quite clear to all of them. "If any of you so much as whispers that spell in his presence, you'll be met with a week of detentions and docked points for insubordination." He spun back to face Ron, who stepped back, startled and more than a little fearful. "What you do outside of class, I cannot control, so by lunch, you may very well have your hair back to its normal color. However, the missing hair must grow back on its own." His smirk showed just how satisfied with this outcome he was. "Consider this a lesson, Weasley. If you are a failure at the art of brewing potions, at least have the common sense to keep the potion away from your person."

Around the class, there were a few students who were not exactly known for succeeding in their brewing, and all of them still had the full contents of their cauldrons sitting in the basin, waiting for disposal instructions.

The whole ordeal had been humiliating to say the least, and now he would have to wait for Hermione to teach him the spell in order to get rid of this hideous color. In order to avoid the constant pointing and ridicule that followed him through the halls, he cut away into a short cut, a rarely used passage way, which would take him up to the sixth floor. It was great, because he could skip 5 levels of torment. He knew there was no way it physically ran from the dungeons to the sixth floor. It was Hogwarts magic. He emerged, and headed for the stairs, intent on getting to the common room with limited problems. The corridor was empty, which wasn't shocking, since most students were heading to the Great Hall for lunch. The stairs came into view, when he suddenly found himself in the grip of powerful hands.

The tapestry he was passing had grown hands, or so he thought, and was trying to eat him alive. Flailing his arms and legs, he tried to break free, terrified of what might happen. The hold was powerful, though, and wouldn't let go. He tried to scream, but realized that there was a hand over his mouth, trapping the sound behind his lips. His body was pulled behind the tapestry, and he felt himself getting drowsy. Try as he might, he couldn't fight the coming darkness. The last thing he heard was footsteps in the corridor he had just left, and the voice of McGonagall saying "Hello?" Ron tried to scream, but found himself unable. He heard Flitwick question his colleague. "What is it Minerva? Did you hear something?"

"Yes. Or at least, I thought I did. It must have been my imagination though. There's no one here, as you can see. I'm getting to old for this." Flitwick laughed lightly. "Come, let's go to lunch." They walked away, Flitwick's response trailing after them.

"If you're too old for this, what is Dumbledore?" That question went unanswered for Ron, as he blacked out.

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A knock echoed in the dungeons and Harry fidgeted on his feet as he waited outside the door of the Potions professor. It was thirty seconds of silence, and then he knocked again, hoping for a response this time. Getting nothing yet again, he tried the handle, and found it unlocked. Pushing it open, Harry entered the room and was ready to call for Snape when he heard "Legilimens!" from his left.

A foreign presence slammed into his mind, harder and more persistent than he had ever experienced. Managing to keep his walls up under the onslaught of Professor Snape's mind, the presence backed off, settling for slithering around, waiting and looking for a way in. It pounded against his mind protection again, and then backed off. Then it repeated. Over and over again there was assault and withdrawal, attack and retreat. It was meant to wear down on the shields with limited recovery time for the victim, while conserving the energy invader. It wasn't a perfect method for infiltration, but it wasn't supposed to be. It served as endurance practice for the person whose mind was being invaded.

After what felt like forever and a day, Snape left his head. Harry dropped to his knees in exhaustion and pain, his hands on the cold stone, propping him up. The Potions professor broke the silence. "Are you alright?" He wasn't overly concerned for the boy, but figured he might as well ask. If he got some strange answer in which Harry started talking about potions or charms or, Merlin forbid, crumble-bore moleacks like Luna Lovegood, then he would know that he had hit too hard and that he would need to do some repair work.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry gasped out. "What the fuck was that anyways?"

"That was my attempt at catching you off guard, and your first successful practice at keeping your shields up under the assailing of an experienced Legilimens. You did well enough for the first time under my full power. There were plenty of cracks though, and had I wanted to, entering your thoughts would have been no problem." Harry knew that Snape wasn't saying this to get him down, but was letting him know the truth. Despite the dramatic difference in their relationship, they could hardly be called friends. Severus Snape had promised to help Harry Potter, so that the Dark Lord would be destroyed and he could be free from the hell that was service to the madman. He knew that his spying was essential, but it didn't make it any less miserable. "Over the next month, we need to have you fully capable of holding off my attacks for as long as possible. At some point, the Headmaster himself will be joining us to have a go at your getting in your head. That won't be until closer to Christmas, though."

Harry nodded in understanding. "There was something about Legilimency also, wasn't there?"

"Indeed there was. If you would like to get up off the floor and take a seat, I will explain to you what we will be working on, and just how it will benefit you in the long run. Unfortunately, I don't know what the Headmaster has planned, so I can't tell you how it will be applied to the mission he has for you, but it is vital to this war never the less."

Harry pushed himself up off the stone floor, and marched over to the desk at the front of the class, so that the professor could sit at his own desk. Harry had picked up some simple ways to be courteous under the extended tutelage of this man over the summer.

"Now, to begin," said Severus, as he seated himself behind his desk, "I want you to enter a trance via meditation like you learned back in July."

Harry sighed. This was difficult to do, but hey, it would pay off in the long run.

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"Where is Weasel #1?" the voice inquired, yet again shrouded in the dark corner of an abandoned classroom. "I don't call these meetings lightly. He had better have a very good reason for not showing up."

Hermione wasn't sure of what to say, so she said the only thing she could. "I'm sure he's coming. He realizes how important these meetings-

"Oh stuff it, would you mudblood!?" Hermione blushed deep with embarrassment and some anger at the rude and bold interruption.

It worked though. She held her tongue.

"Mini-Weasel? When was the last time you saw your brother."

Ginny pondered this for a moment, before replying, "I guess it was this morning. He wasn't at lunch or dinner, but he's been disappearing off by himself lately, so I didn't think much of it. I know he had potions with Hermione this morning, but like I said, the last time I physically saw him was leaving breakfast this morning."

Hermione was fidgeting, looking as though she had something to say, but didn't want to overstep her bounds. Despite being fiercely defiant when it came to pureblood agenda, she also had a weakness for authority, and this person had clearly established who was in charge. "Alright, Granger, what?"

"He was in potions this morning," her words spilling out with a flurry of hand movements, "but he messed up his potion, and he was being made fun of by most of the class. I tried to talk to him after class, but he left me behind, and ducked into a shortcut."

The voice sighed, and if one had bionic ears, the sound of grinding teeth could be heard. "For one thing, we already know that he made a fool of himself today. Humorous though it may have been, it doesn't answer where he is. Nor does 'shortcut'. There are about a million of those in this place, and those are just the ones we know of!"

"Yes, yes, but this one is special. I know where it is. It's hardly ever used, and it takes you from the dungeons to the sixth floor by some sort of magic. We used to use it with Harry all the time." She was somewhat excited. Whether it was over the fact that she was demonstrating her knowledge as she so loved to do, or because this was slowly turning into a little adventure reminiscent of the Golden Trio days, she couldn't be sure.

From the corner, the voice said, "Well, leave us directions on how to get there, and we'll check it out in the morning. As much as I don't like either you or the giant doofus, we don't need one of you missing with information about us." A pale hand emerged from the shadow and waved her away, signaling that she was no longer of any use.

She was heading out, and said, "Let's go, Ginny."

"No. The little vixen can stay. We've got some discussing to do." Before she could protest at being excluded again, she found herself being shoved, not softly, out of the room by a hand on her lower back. The door slammed shut behind her.

Heading down the hall, she walked quickly to make sure that she would get back to the common room on time. There was only fifteen minutes left before curfew and most students were already in their dorms, planning what they were going to do tomorrow. Coming upon the secret passage that she had seen Ron enter earlier that day, she planned on passing it by.

But she stopped. Something about that passageway was suspicious, and it called to her, making her want to take a look in there and see if she couldn't find something related to where Ron had gone to. She was beginning to think that he was honestly missing, and that worried her. Pushing the tapestry aside, she moved into the passage.

Three steps was as far as she got when the sensation of cold leather wrapped itself around her neck, closing with a snap, and a whispered 'Stupefy' reached her ears.

The darkness consumed her.

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Joseph Wurrfington was leaving the Flourish and Blott's in Hogsmeade, having just picked up the latest _Charms Weekly _magazine that had been released the day before. Being bedridden with a slight fever, he hadn't been able to get out of the house and get it until today, which had been a work day, so he had come out and gotten it directly after dinner.

Walking leisurely through the slightly narrow alleyway streets that made up most of the town, he looked over towards Hogwarts, and was reminiscing about the time he had spent there as a boy. The days learning magic under the tutelage of some of the greatest magicians in all of Wizarding Britain, discovering the wonders of magic. His favorite had always been Charms, and being a Ravenclaw, he had spent hours upon hours researching all sorts of different magicks pertaining to and related to charms, in order to get a better understanding of his most enjoyed subject. Filius Flitwick, being both his teacher, and head of house, had been a great mentor, always encouraging, but never afraid to give constructive criticism. It was because of him, that Joseph was on his way to a prestigious career with the Ministry as an Unspeakable, working on Curse breaking and enchanted items.

Leaving town on the way to his house, which was about five minutes outside of town, near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Joseph felt a rumbling under his feet. A movement in the Earth. Not the kind he had experienced during an Earthquake on his visit to the Americas, but rather a smaller, but not insubstantial humming and buzzing. It worried him, because there wasn't anything in the area that should be making that kind of noise.

By the time he had gotten home, it had stopped, but he had resolved to write to the Ministry and report it. In these times, strange vibrations were no laughing matter. He wrote a quick but formal letter to the Ministry, using his newly found position in hopes that the missive would get immediate attention from his coworkers, despite the hour. Since the break in at the D.O.M, Unspeakables had started taking night shifts. So someone would be there. He sent his owl on its way, just as the last light from the sun left the sky, surrendering to the moon and stars.

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A mile outside of Hogsmeade, small beady eyes watched a brown owl as it flew out of a house on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. The path it was taking led it overhead, and when it was close enough, a hand gave the signal, whereupon multiple arrows went whistling through the air, bringing down the low flying bird. The bird and unopened letter were brought to the leader, who read the letter slowly, drinking in every word, every letter, and every punctuation. Upon completion, a force was dispatched to the house to deal with that problem.

Joseph Wurrfington would be found dead in his home days later, nothing but bones and clothes left of the wizard.

Back in real time, the leader called for his lead project director, having decided on a new plan of action after reading that letter. Two words were all it took.

"Dig deeper."

A/N: Thanks for reading, everybody. I'm really glad that people are giving this story the time of day. It makes me feel great. Ron and Hermione will get what's coming to them in the next chapter. School is starting, and work is picking up again, so updates will be slow, but please bear with me. See ya next time! : )


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, yadda yadda yadda.

A/N: Thanks again for the reviews, especially all of you that leave one every time I update. It means so much.

Harry and Luna sat in the Great Hall, finishing up breakfast and talking about the Hogsmeade trip today. Despite the threat of attack on Thursday, the lack of follow through took the edge off, and the staff felt it prudent to allow the visit to Hogsmeade to give the students something to take their minds off of everything that was going on in the world. Harry wasn't so sure it was a good idea in general, but it did provide a way to deal with the third of the Troublesome Trio. Ron and Hermione were currently stashed safely away in a secret location that only he knew.

Harry spoke softly to the blond, who was currently sitting next to him. "You remember the plan?" She nodded, a wicked gleam in her eye indicating that she was going to have plenty of fun with this. Harry continued, "And if it fails, or something happens, and we have to use plan B, you're _sure_ you're okay with that?"

Luna turned to him and gave him a heavy look. Her eyes and face were calm, everything about her demeanor pointed to her being at peace. "She's been allowed to live long enough as it is. This trip is the perfect opportunity to do away with the final pest." Her voice promised violence, cold and sharp, like a sword. "And even if I can't do it myself for some reason, it needs to get done one way or another. That's all there is too it."

He nodded, glad that she cared more about results than she did about methods. He turned to Lavender and Neville, and asked, "You two have the potions?" A pair of nods answered him. "And you remember what to do, right?" Two more nods. "Good. Well, I think this will be a very enjoyable and productive day, don't you?" he said to them all.

Bright smiles answered him. Excitement flowed through his veins. Good things were on the horizon.

If only he knew.

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Ron Weasley looked around, grimy walls surrounding him on all sides. The only light in the room was coming from a lit wall sconce. He checked himself over after getting a grip on his senses, and found that his hair was still in the same hideous state as before. He was dressed in nothing but heavy wool pants, and a woolen shirt. Not even any underwear, which he realized was going to be quite uncomfortable on his sensitive bits later. Already he was starting to sweat. And itch. He had no shoes, and the floor was rough and jagged, making moving around very painful on the feet. His necklace was also gone. This made him very uneasy. Knowing that his mind was protected 24/7 was not a big deal at the time, but now that he had to go without, it was very disconcerting.

He didn't have his wand. He didn't have anything. Just his body, his mind, and this room. And of course, these damn clothes. Not wanting to take them off, but really needing relief from the heat, he decided to take the shirt off, but leave the pants on. When he went to pull it off, however, it wouldn't budge. He was stuck. He sat down dejectedly, forgetting the floors texture, slamming his ass into a particularly large bump.

"ARGH!" Grabbing his backside and rolling around on the floor in pain, he tried to think of anything but the awkward pain. As he sat up, moving with caution so as not to hurt himself again, his stomach gurgled loudly, reminding him that he hadn't eaten in a while. Looking around, he spotted food in the corner of the room. Hobbling over slowly, he grabbed the plate and started shoveling.

Then he spat it out violently. It tasted like ash, and was absolutely horrid. I wasn't _actually _ash, so technically it was still edible.

He sat there eyeing it for a while, reluctant to put such nastiness in his mouth, but suffering under the hunger pangs. Finally, he gave in, and started gobbling with unmatched speed, hoping to eat at enough of a pace that he wouldn't taste much of it. After three chicken thighs and a giant heaping of mashed potatoes, the plate was still full, and he was still quite hungry. He finally noticed that there was a glass of apple juice next to his plate, and slammed it back, grateful for something to wash down his food with.

That too got spit out. With a feeling of dread, it hit him what exactly it was. It wasn't apple juice.

It was piss. But again, thirst overpowered his unwillingness to drink urine, and he finished the glass. It too was still full when he finished. And his thirst hadn't gone anywhere.

The plate's magic kept it refilling itself, the food was charmed to be about as filling as the ash it tasted like, and the drink would forever be full with piss. Not that Ron had figured any of that out.

Giving up on eating for the time being, he looked for the smoothest spot on the floor and found one in the farthest corner of the room from him. It wasn't very big, but if he curled up tightly, he could get out of having all these bumps and jagged edges poking into him.

Crawling ever so slowly, he finally made it over there, and sighed in relief. Then the wall moved. It sprang forward and captured him in a vice grip by the arms and legs, splaying him spread eagle against the scum of the wall.

He spent five minutes like this, and began to wonder if this wasn't where he was going to sleep for the night. If it was night. He was tired, though, and he figured he could sleep anyways, even if it was the middle of the day. He closed his eyes, hoping that when he woke up, it would be in his bed, and that all this would be a bad dream.

He had about three seconds of peace before his eyes sprung open at a grinding sound that came from the opposite side of the room. A slab of stone on the wall across from him had ground open, revealing a dark opening.

Using his masterful mind power, he thought maybe he would be released and allowed to leave. Because of course, everything up to that point had indicated that that would be the case.

Yeah.

He was severely disappointed to find that was not the case. He was beyond solace when an Acromantula crawled out of that space and fixed all eight of its big nasty eyes on the pink-head.

Ron lost all control of his bowels, and he soon stank of his own waste. Struggling with all his might to break free of his constraints, he kept his eyes fixed on the monstrous creature that edged closer every second. His wrists and ankles soon became nothing more than raw, bleeding sores.

Now standing in front of his prey, the huge spider raised one fang toward Ron's belly, which pulled a fearful howl from the boy's throat.

The sharp pincer punctured the shirt and the flesh, dragging down the center of his body from his sternum to his belly button.

The intense pain of being dissected by what was essentially an oversized syringe of poison made the boy wish he would pass out from the pain.

No such relief was forthcoming. Instead, he was forced to stay awake and watch in morbid fascination and horror as the spider actually DUG AROUND in his organs, before picking his fatty liver to munch on.

When it was all over, and the spider had retreated to its little cave with a piece of Ron's innards, and the tear and snot covered boy looked down at his chest to see that the giant wound was healing over and the shirt was slowly stitching itself closed.

He breathed a great sigh, and sobbed happily when his ankles and wrists were free from the constraints. Lying curled on the small smooth spot in the corner of the room, he felt his tummy grumble, warning him that it was hungry again. He looked around and spotted a plate of food on the other side of the room, looking delicious and smelling like heaven. He got up and hobbled over there, looking forward to a delicious meal.

And hoping he never had to deal with that awful spider again.

It would be a long time in that room before Ron Weasley thought about the fact that he was stuck in a room with not windows or doors, being held against his will.

There were no spells on the room to make him forget about those things. It was simply his amazing mental prowess.

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Hermione Granger cracked her eyes, stretching to get the kinks out of her muscles, when it hit her what she was sleeping on. A hard, cold, wood floor. She jumped to her feet, eyes scanning the room she was in. When her mind caught up, a giant smile was plastered on her face. A library, vast and comforting in the strange way that libraries and bookstores can be, surrounded her on all sides. Shelves upon shelves of books, all arranged according to subject, with little tags denoting what section it was.

She ran to the nearest shelf, grabbing the first book she saw, which was titled _The Art of Magic: A History of Magical Paintings and Various Forms of Expression. _Glad to have picked something that she had never actually learned about before, she opened the book and was stunned with what she discovered. It was written in some strange language, one that she could not understand. It was constantly curving and twirling, swiveling and swirling. Moving! Words aren't supposed to move like that. And they aren't supposed to be shaped like that.

Like little snakes, crawling around on the page.

What disheartened her most was that she couldn't read it. Upset, but resigned to the fact, she moved on to another shelf, this one about Arithmancy, and picked up an advanced text, old and fragile looking. Placing it on a nearby table, so as not to risk dropping it, she pulled the cover back and was once again shocked to see the twisted and swaying script that was in the previous book.

Running to the nearest shelf, and grabbing the first book she could find, she flipped it open and found that she couldn't read this one either. The process repeated itself as she ran from corner to corner, wall to wall of the library, trying to find one book, _any _book that she could actually read.

It was no use. She sat down at the table, put her head in her hands, and fought off the tears that threatened to spill down her face. Now that she was no longer caught up in the pursuit of a book that she could read, Hermione took a moment to take stock of her situation.

She was still in her school clothes, but she now had a studded collar around her neck, which she had never seen before. Playing with the buckle at the back to try and get it off, she found that no matter how hard she pulled, no matter the amount of wiggling and fighting, it wouldn't budge.

Desperate now for some sort of escape, she ran to the door, hoping it would be unlocked. The wide wooden entrance, curved at the top and decorated in complex miniature sculptures, loomed over her when she got there. Reaching for the long and curved handle, her arm was severely, pain running like trains on a track up and down her arms the moment her skin touched the brass knob.

Yelping, she jumped back, staring in fascination as fiery script unfolded in the air in front of her face. It reminded her of what Harry had described having seen in the Chamber of Secrets all those years ago, and it disturbed her. When it was done, she read slowly, her lips moving as her eyes followed the words.

_Hermione,_

_Your friend Ron did me a great service. His plan to betray you and turn you into his own personal slave provided the circumstances required to outmaneuver him, and make you my own._

_Make no mistake, I have had my revenge planned for a while now, but a few things stood in my way. Not anymore. From this point on, you will be serving me in whatever way I see fit. _

_Your ambition is admirable, but when you steal from the one person who saved you from being the school outcast just to be the best there is, I simply cannot find it in my heart to show you any mercy. _

_When your duties to me are over, your life will end. And it will not be quick or painless. Slow and agonizing is no less than you deserve. For now, you have many days of service ahead of you, so do not dwell on your impending doom. Focus only on the here and now. _

_As you may have noticed, you are unable to read any of the books in the library. I have placed a spell on you that will make you unable to read in anything but Parseltongue, and because you are not a Parselmouth, it will be incomprehensible, and it will mean nothing to you._

_When I have need of your services, you will be able to temporarily read whatever it is that I require you to read for the research I may need done, but when you are finished, all information gathered from the reading you have done will be removed, and you will not know what you read. _

_I will be along in a few days to give you your first assignment. Try not to get into any trouble; otherwise the circumstances of your existence may become decidedly nastier. _

_Have a nice day! _

_Sincerely, _

_You know._

_P.S. I have your wand, if you're looking for it. No more magic for you, bitch._

In shock and completely drained of energy at the revelations contained in the message, Hermione dropped like a boneless suit of flesh to the ground. She spent the rest of the afternoon crying at the injustice of it all, never once thinking about the fact that it was her own actions that had landed her in this position.

----HPHPHPHPHP-----

In a small home outside of Hogsmeade, under the cover of night, a small but effective group rifled through the belongings of an up and coming Charms expert and Unspeakable. Having met the same fate as his beloved pet, this man would likely have changed his game plan had he known in advance just how dangerous his discovery had been.

His decision to use his owl had been a hasty and foolish one, but because he was a newly ordained Unspeakable, he didn't yet understand and contain the overwhelming paranoia that most of his fellow operatives did.

The Department of Mysteries had no fireplaces in it whatsoever, because despite the fact that they could erect wards to keep wayward travelers or unwanted parties out, it was better not to risk it in the first place.

Thus, the life of Joseph Wurffington was snuffed out due a few bad decisions. It was unfortunate, not only for him, but for the town as a whole.

After all, he was no use to anyone crucified on his wall, skinned completely. Plus, with his magical artifacts in the hands of the leader of this group, everything he had worked for and accomplished in his life had been marginalized in a matter of moments.

All because he was a little too eager to read a Charms magazine.

---HPHPHP---

Harry and friends strode down the main street of Hogsmeade, talking about nothing important and visiting various little shops with knick-knacks of all sorts. Of course, they hit the major spots as well, buying fun items at Zonko's, and sweets at Honeyduke's, before making plans to stop at the Three Broomsticks for a while.

Three buildings away from the Three Broomsticks, Luna spotted her target, and subtly tapped Harry on the arm. His eyes came around to catch hers, and she gave nod in the direction of the youngest redhead of the Weasley Brigade.

He nodded, giving her the go-ahead, but before she could make her excuses to the others, Ginny Weasley had spotted Harry and came skipping over, making a show of being very happy to see him. To anyone who knew the girl, which was most of them there, it was obviously a blatant attempt at getting his attention.

"Hi Harry!" she called in an overly girly voice. Harry just gave a grimace-like smile and nodded kindly. "I was just wondering if you wanted to spend some time together. Maybe at Madam Puddifoot's?" She then proceeded to act as if she had some sort of dysfunction in her eyes, which Harry finally realized was the girl's attempt at batting her eyelashes.

"Umm… no thanks, Ginny. I've actually been looking forward to spending time with Luna for a while, and I don't think going to Madam Puddifoot's with you is such a good idea." He gave another placating half smile that was as close to a 'sorry' as she was going to get.

An ugly sneer marred her face at this revelation. "Why would you want to hang out with," her eyes shifted to Luna, looking her up and down as if sizing her up for a fight, "LOONY LOVEGOOD!?"

Luna's face lost all trace of its serenity, and in a moment, she was face to face with Ginny, their noses an inch apart. Her wand had slid into her hand smoothly and was now prodding the ginger girl in the ribs. Weasley hadn't even seen the movement. The words flowed easily from the blond girl's mouth, but came out heavy as a sack of bricks. "I'll tell you something right now, Ginny Weasley. Speak badly about me again, and I won't hesitate to demonstrate for you exactly why he prefers spending time with me." She grabbed the cowed witch by the collar, and shoved the wand harder into Ginny's side.

"I'm ten times the witch you are, and Harry Potter doesn't settle for low class bints with no sense of what's really important in the world." Her eyes searched Ginny's for a moment to see if any of this was registering, but she couldn't tell. She doubted it though, and just sighed, letting the girl go with a shove. "And just for the record, dumbass, I'm not loony. It's called opening your eyes to the possibilities of the magic in the world. I'd tell you to try it sometime, but I doubt you have the brain capacity."

Brows drawn in anger, Ginny reached for her wand to retaliate, but Harry cut in. "Ginny, Ginny, relax." He turned to Luna and said, "Give it a rest, okay Luna?" The girl nodded calmly, her dazed look returning to her face as she looked to the sky as if it held the answers of the Universe. He turned back to the redhead and said softly, "Look Ginny, today is about Luna, but how about this? Next time we have a Hogsmeade weekend, which is like the week before winter holidays, we'll go to Puddifoot's together. Deal?"

She didn't look to happy about having to wait, and Harry's friends looked at him like he was crazy, but they didn't say anything. After a moment of silent contemplation, she sighed and then nodded, saying, "Fine! But I'm holding you to it." He just smiled again, and she turned and walked away with a "See you later, Harry!"

When she was out of ear shot, Parvati looked at him in surprise and asked, "Are you really going to go out with her!?"

Harry just laughed.

"I'm serious, Harry!" He kept laughing, and when it was down to a chuckle, he replied, "No, Parvati. Somehow I doubt that after today, I'll be able to meet her there or anywhere." His lips spread into a smirk, and even though Parvati clearly wanted to know more, he was tight lipped. No point in ruining the surprise. "Come on. Let's go to the Three Broomsticks."

Luna, however, had other plans. "I'll catch up with you guys later. I want to go and check Dervish and Banges for a new book about magical creatures."

They nodded, and said their goodbyes, and parted ways.

Harry struggled to keep the smile off of his face. Part one of his plan had been successful. Ginny's attempts at getting a date hadn't been expected, but it made no difference in the grand scheme of things.

-----HPHPHP----

It was time to launch the attack. Most of the students were now in shops or various little diners throughout the town, and Harry Potter had finally stopped moving around. He wasn't necessarily the target of this entire offensive, but considering that he had been such a pain in the ass, it wouldn't hurt anybody if he was conveniently eliminated. Having him inside a building, like the rest of the wizards and witches was perfect, because when they came down, everyone inside would be crushed.

The time was now, and he raised his hand, prepared to give the signal, when he heard a shout. "SIR! SIR, WAIT!" He turned to see a scout sprinting as fast as those little feet would move to stop him from initiating the attack.

The scout reached him, panting and heaving. Catching his breath looked to be as difficult as running here had been. Growing impatient, the leader yelled, "Well!? What is it damn it? I don't have all day."

The scout spoke in a low and broken voice, delivering the message of what he had seen, and the head man dropped his arm slowly, waving off the advance for the time being. His face was one of surprise, but also intrigue, very much interested in what had just developed.

"This is interesting. Very interesting indeed," he spoke, his voice like that of grinding gravel gaining the full attention of all those nearby. He spoke loudly and fearlessly, because even if someone was around to hear what was being said, they wouldn't understand the language spoken. "It seems that for the time being, we'll be postponing the attack. After all, why not wait for them to show up and kill two birds with one stone, eh?"

And so, they all went back to working with diligence to prepare everything. It wouldn't do to screw this up.

----HPHPHPHP-----

In the Three Broomsticks, Harry and Parvati met up with Lavender and Neville who were sitting at a booth, each of them drinking a butterbeer. Harry slid in next to Neville and Parvati next to Lavender, and they greeted each other and talked about how their day had gone for a few minutes. Then Harry asked, "How did it go?"

They both nodded with a smile, before the blond boy next to him responded with a resounding "Great! We made sure we were seen in a few different shops, and shoved a couple of the younger students to make sure that they remembered us." Neville grimaced, but proceeded with the story, "I felt bad, but I had to do it, and it's not like they know it was us."

Harry nodded, understanding the boy's hesitance in picking on people that hadn't done anything to them, but it was just some pushing to make an impression. Nothing harmful.

Suddenly, the last person he wanted to see was at his shoulder. Ginny Weasley had followed him in here, and was now smiling down at him from her spot next to the table.

It wasn't the fact that she was in the bar that bothered him.

It was that she was alive. And Luna wasn't here. It bothered him.

"Hi Harry! Where's Luna? I thought you were gonna spend the day with her?" her voice laced with jealousy, obviously thinking that he had lied just to ditch her.

"Oh, she just stopped at the bookstore to grab some new book that just came out. What are you doing here? I thought I told you we would spend time together next time." Nev and Lav, having been preoccupied earlier, both had looks of surprise on their faces, but a kick to the legs from Parvati kept them quiet.

"Oh, I know, but I figured since we were both in the same place at the same time, I would come over and join you," she told him with a grin. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, she had a chair and was sliding it up to the table.

Harry, growing increasingly uncomfortable, got up. "Actually, Ginny, it's been a bit longer than Luna said she was going to take, and I'm going to go look for her. Will you come with me?" He didn't actually want her company, but he needed to find Luna, and then they would follow through with what was supposed to happen today.

Jumping at the chance for some alone time with Harry, the vibrant redhead immediately agreed, trailing behind Harry on the way out, after he told his friends he would be back soon.

Stepping out into the harsh autumn cold, the wind slicing at his face, he turned right and headed for Dervish and Banges when something caught his eye. Down the road, dressed in all black and a white mask was a Death Eater. It obviously hadn't been there long, because the townsfolk were just starting to notice as well, and had yet to raise the alarm.

But that wasn't what Harry was focused on. The green-eyed boy had his eyes trained on the struggling form of Luna who was wrapped in the robed arms of her captor. Catching his eye, Luna screamed out in a panic. "HARRY!!"

This fearful scream snapped the townspeople out of their stupor, and they immediately began yelling and raising the alarm. Seconds later, multiple pops were heard, and there was now a group of Death Eaters at least 40 strong standing in front of Gladrags.

The man holding Luna decided that he had waited long enough, and started speaking. "Hey Potter, got your girly here. You want me to give her back?"

Harry, angry that the girl he cared about was in enemy hands, while the girl he hated was safe next to him, answered with, "No shit, dumbass. Hand her over!"

"Alrighty then, I will." He held his wand up to his captive's head and inquired, "Two pieces, or eight?" It was hard to see his eyes behind the mask at this distance, but the way he spoke gave Harry no doubt that the man was not all there. Years in Azkaban had obviously done a number on his mind.

Harry said nothing, and suddenly the wand was pointed at him and the Death Eater shouted, "Praemium Caput Capitas!"

Harry's eyes widened. He knew that spell. It was a very dark curse that made the target's head explode no matter what part of the body it came in contact with. It could skim your toe, and your head would pop.

It was speeding at him with incredible velocity. Standing directly next to Ginny like he was, she was within arm's reach. Ducking to his left, he grabbed her arm, which was moving away from him, just above the elbow, and yanked her toward him yelling, "Ginny, watch out!"

***

Ginny watched the curse fly towards them, shocked into stillness at the entire scene. The curse was ten feet from them when her body figured out how to move again, and she pushed with her left leg, bending her right knee and getting ready to spring out of the way.

A hand caught her elbow, however, and with a shout of "Ginny, watch out!" the love of her life, the man she deserved to be with, pulled her in his direction, directly into the path of the oncoming spell.

***

Ginny's head was a firework explosion of hair, blood, brain matter, and bits of bone. Her body flopped to the ground and blood poured from the mangled melon that was once her head.

There was a scream of pure horror and time stood still as everyone surveyed the scene with utter incredulity. What felt like a moment that lasted forever, ended suddenly when one of the students in the PDC fired a curse at the Death Eaters in retaliation.

Soon, members were flooding out of various store fronts to help each other, and the town was alight with pastels of death, and shades of pain. Curses shouted back and forth, debris flying from off target spells, bodies dropping with injuries.

The students who didn't stay to fight were busy fleeing up the road towards the school in an attempt to avoid getting hurt and hoping to get a hold of one of the teachers quickly.

Harry had scrambled away from the draining body of Ginny Weasley, his goal accomplished and his clothes bloodied. Rolling behind the wall of a store, he cast a spell to get rid of the life liquid from his clothes. He honestly hadn't expected such an opportunity to present itself. It was so convenient that it actually bothered him a bit. But not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he brushed it aside and was thankful that he had caught her arm before she had leaned too far in the opposite direction. And of course, the part with him yelling for her to get down as if he cared for her… well that was a nifty piece of acting, if he did say so himself.

Jumping out from behind the brick façade, he joined the fighting, slinging light and dark spells that he had learned. The PDC had added a fair number of spells to his light spell arsenal, while access to the Black Library over the summer had expanded his dark spell selection.

The fight was beginning to get worse for the students, unable to defend against the vast repertoire of magic and power of the Death Eaters, when they were miraculously relieved by the staff of Hogwarts, and a group of Aurors that had apparated in from the Ministry after being alerted.

It would have been an occasion to celebrate if not for two things. One: they were still in a fight for their lives, and anything could happen at any time. Two: that anything happened.

The sound of thunder sounded in the town, but not from overhead. No, it was from underneath, and the thunder rumbled along from behind the Death Eaters, all the way down to the Three Broomsticks. It wasn't a quiet rumble, like a distant storm from hours past. It was the clap that associates a nearby lightning bolt.

The ground shook, knocking everyone, students, teachers, and Death Eaters alike to the dirt. The buildings along the road began, slowly but surely, sinking down into the ground that had once held them proudly. The walls and supports buckled under the awkward angles of the sinking stores and structures, bringing the roofs down on the unfortunate people that had stayed in to avoid the fighting.

Next to, and in between the stores, the roads crumbled into round holes about the size of a muggle manhole.

And from those holes, flowed scores of goblins, wielding axes and dressed in battle garb, hacking and slashing at the closest non-goblin thing to them.

Harry looked upon the scene in dismay, wondering how the hell they were going to deal with Death Eaters and goblins at the same damn time.

It was a sign, though. The game was afoot. The war was on. The fight for the Wizarding World had just begun.

A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews. You got a look into the punishments of Ron and Hermione, which were a combination of most of the suggestions, but considering that most of them were the same, there wasn't much combining to do. The Goblins finally make their move. As do the Death Eaters. Ginny is dead. What happened to Luna? Let me know what you think of the chapter please. Thanks! Bye. **EDIT: I just recieved a review saying that Hermione's punishment was used in a different story. I didn't intend to copy from another story, and any and all credit for that idea goes to whoever came up with it first. **


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: 120k hits! Thanks a million everyone. I want to whole-heartedly thank everyone who reviewed and added me to their alerts and everything. It means so much and makes me want to keep writing. With school and work, updates essentially stopped, and I was doing other things, but I'll do my best to keep up with this now. : ) On with the show.

The students from the PDC had held their enemy off well enough considering the vast difference in experience between the two. Remembering the training, they had utilized the environment to give them hiding spots from which to fire spells. Those barricades and walls had, for the most part, disappeared when the goblins showed up, forcing them out into the streets, making them much more vulnerable and forcing them to fall back up the road towards the school.

Albus Dumbledore and his staff handled the situation with the Death Eaters quite well. Sure, there were forty of them, but they were lesser Death Eaters, and he was Albus Dumbledore. Not to mention the fact that most of the Hogwart's staff was renowned for their skill with a wand as well, putting them at a distinct advantage over these nobodies.

There was one problem, though. The goblins kept on coming. Massive numbers flowed from the underground tunnels, and soon both the Light and Dark sides were struggling to keep up. They had each abandoned fighting their primary foes and focused solely on keeping the goblins at bay. The hacking and slashing of the magical weaponry, combined with the surprisingly swift agility of these miniature creatures was troubling everyone involved.

In the chaos, Luna Lovegood had managed to get away from her captor. The man released her in favor of saving his own hide when faced with a deadly goblin lightning spell. Slipping behind the buildings, she ran full-tilt back towards the school, harsh winter air stinging her cheeks and stabbing her lungs, hoping to find Harry and the PDC and aid them.

The world was falling apart around him. Harry Potter ducked and dodged spells the likes of which he had never seen. Sickles of light slashing through the air, making his hair stand on end as it passed by. The students had learned the hard way that most Wizarding magic did not work against goblin spells. Something in their fundamental make up was different than that of human spells, and so shields were rendered useless, resulting in student deaths when a _Protego_ immediately shattered in the face of a bright blue ball of light shot from the blade of a gob-axe.

Buildings stood lopsided, holding on for dear life as the earth grabbed at them, trying unsuccessfully (for now) to pull them to the ground. It would be a miracle to find a single unbroken mirror in the entire town, and half of buildings still standing were alight with flames, engulfing roofs and working their way into basements, filling every nook and cranny with destruction. The roads were scarred with deep gashes, reminiscent of a certain retired Auror.

If one believed in such a place, they might say Hell had been made manifest, right here in humble Hogsmeade.

Harry watched as more and more students fled and died. Those were the only two things that seemed to be happening. The younger students, and the ones who were untrained, they ran toward the school, their backs to the battle, sprinting for the gates. Running for salvation and their life.

The citizens of Hogsmeade had, from the beginning, been making their way toward the Hogwarts. The town was empty now except for combatants. With this in mind, Harry made the call.

"RETREAT! EVERYONE BACK TO HOGWARTS!" he shouted. Harry could see groups of his trainees with their backs to each other, shouting curses and hexes, moving slowly up the road back toward the grounds. It was hard to tell just how many had fallen, but Harry could see the road strewn with bodies, some of them Death Eaters, but far too many of them being students.

The Death Eaters had looks of both incredulity, and in some cases, slight betrayal. At some point in this fight, in the minds of many of the warriors, this battle had moved beyond good guys and bad guys. It was more than "Potter/Dumbledore versus Voldemort" with outside interference from goblins. Now, this was a struggle between humans and goblins, a return to the historical clashes that had wreaked havoc on magical society in the past. Hearing Potter call for a retreat was like being abandoned by their brothers at arms, and it was strangely painful. They paid it little attention soon enough, for their new enemy was voracious and a major danger, needing only a split second to render flesh from bone and scatter it across the town.

Luna's feet hit the carved and battered brick road in rapid succession, and she slowed down quickly, her thighs jarring from the force, and made a left turn into an alley that would take her into the main street. She heard the scream for retreat, and flying out of the alley, headed straight for Harry, whose face slacked with relief.

"Keep going!" he shouted. He fired of a stunning spell at a nearby goblin, but it was deflected with a swing of the hammer.

She slowed down anyways. "We'll fight together, Harry!" She turned her wand on the nearest goblin, which was facing away from her, and fired off a concussive spell, and hitting it and sending it flying into two of his comrades.

"No! You need to get out of here and head up to the school." He fired off a spell over her shoulder at an approaching goblin, forcing it to back off for a moment. "Look at how many people are dead. I don't want that happening to you." He shielded a spell, and though the shield broke, it gave him a second to duck and let the spell fly over his head.

The truth of the matter was that Harry was losing his will to fight. The blood in the cracked streets were like miniature canals, warning of a similar fate. Death and pain and heartache were coming for him, and it was only a matter of time before it consumed his soul. That's what the bloody streets said at least. Harry had other ideas, but he couldn't help losing a bit of hope at the sight of such a slaughter. Of course, there were goblin casualties, but most of those were caused by the Death Eaters, and they were significantly less than that of the humans.

Harry and Luna, covering each other, were moving slowly backwards, most of the living students with them now, only a few stragglers any further down the road. The line of troops was given support by the professorial staff, and they were all making a small bit of progress toward the gates, but they were still a good two hundred yards away, and the goblins were like angry ants whose nest had been stepped on.

They just kept coming.

Suddenly, another series of pops sounded and it was, again, down near the Death Eaters. This time, though, it was accompanied by a feeling of dread. Not quite like that of the Dementors, but far from human. Students, teachers and goblins alike all paused for a moment, and there in the darkness, light from the fires flickering across his robes and casting moving half-shadows across his face, was Voldemort, eyes glowing coals of hatred beneath his hood.

In a second, most of the students abandoned all pretenses, and high-tailed it towards the gate, forgetting what was happening. Harry didn't blame them either. He had faced Voldemort before, but the impending sense of doom he felt from the half-man was like nothing he'd ever felt.

The snake-man's eyes caught Harry's, and he winked. With a rapid slash of his arm and wand, a line of the nearest goblins were sliced cleanly in two, and torsos toppling to the ground as hips and legs stayed upright for a seconds before joining them. In a flurry of motion, the fighting started again, the goblins raging forward towards the Death Eaters, students forgotten. The newly arrived Death Eaters and Voldemort rushed forward, violent spells tearing at the goblin swarm, clashing and clanging against magically created weapons as the invaders struggle to stop the sudden onslaught.

Harry wasn't sure why Voldemort was there. Maybe the Death Eaters had gotten desperate, or maybe he had heard about Harry's presence and was hoping for a chance to take him out. Whatever the case, one thing was clear: he was just the distraction the students needed to make a clean getaway.

"Harry," said Dumbledore, as he kept his wand trained on the battlefield and the backs of the goblins running towards the Death Eaters. "Take everyone back up to the school. Reinforcements will be here soon, but the town is lost." He looked sullenly upon the smoldering heap of what once was a great village, but was now reduced to a ruinous pile of rubble.

Harry could only nod, and he, Luna, and the other moved past the teachers, helping the injured who couldn't walk, or levitating the unconscious. They constantly looked back to watch the carnage unfold, and wondered at what would happen there. Most of them were zombies, dragging their feet and not wanting to leave behind their fallen friends, for the truth of the matter is that most students hit with a spell were killed. The goblins were out for blood, nothing less. Their savagery had revealed itself this day, their true nature shining a black, horrible light for all to see.

Broken as the town, the group moved as quickly as it could hobble and walk and shuffle back towards the gate. The professors moved with them for a short while, but halted just outside of the town, waiting for the Order of the Phoenix, and if they were lucky, some Aurors to arrive.

Luna held on to Harry, not wanting to let go for fear of being separated again, and Harry held her likewise. Taking stock of who was here, Harry noticed that Lavender was missing, along with some of the upper class Gryffindors, and he noticed Luna doing the same thing for the Ravenclaws. In the group with him now were only about 20 students, about a sixth of the total number of the club. His only solace was that he knew that some of them had managed to get away, but it was still a stab to the heart to see them all so hurt and in physical and emotional pain.

A hundred yards from the school now, the Forbidden Forest close by on the left, and a Hufflepuff student said to the group, "What's that?"

"What's what?" asked the only Slytherin with them, his face scrunched in confusion. The Hufflepuff stopped, holding his hands up motioning them to stop too. He stared off into space, his eyes no longer doing his main source of sensation.

Halted now, casting glances towards the town to make sure they've got enough distance, the group looked at the 6th year boy with black hair and blue eyes. Then they felt it. The ground was shivering. Or shaking or vibrating. Whatever word you want to use, it was moving. And it shouldn't have been. They looked around, Harry seeing Luna's eyebrows draw together, and she looked back at the town, and revelation struck her face. Eyes widened, jaw propped open, she whispered, "Oh, sh-

BOOM!

A thunderous, rocky explosion sounded ten feet from them, a whole bursting open in the ground between them and the school. The worst possible place for such a thing to crop up. Hunks of rock and dirt hit the students and the ground, raining down on them. From inside that whole came the one thing they didn't want to see anymore of. Goblins.

The only reaction had in that moment was the scream of Parvati, before the swing of an axe caught Harry's eye, and in a moment, his face was slammed with a bright ball of magic, launching him into the trees of the Forbidden Forest, and sending his world into darkness. His last thought before losing consciousness was scatterbrained and consisted all at once of fear for Luna, hoping the Order would show up soon, and '_I hope someone finds me soon. It'll be dark any minute now.'_

A/N: I know this is not as long as the other chapters and it's probably not as good as the others, but it's been a while, and I'm trying to get back in the swing of things. Let me know what you think, don't hesitate to point out discrepancies, so that I can fix them if they need fixing, and thanks again to everyone who put me on their alerts and kept reading. It means a lot. Until next time!


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone.

Itchy skin woke Harry, dried leaves poking into his skin. His arms splayed to the side, his face stinging with dirt in the wounds. His eyes fluttered open, and slowing bringing his hands next to his body, he pushed up off the ground and got to his knees. It was dark, the trees lined with silver light from the moon. He turned his head slowly, looking back towards Hogsmeade, and he could see a faint orange glow above the trees in the sky. Something about the world was strange though. Like part of it was missing. The fiery sky looked far away though. Farther than he could have been thrown from the blast.

The blast. With that thought, the stinging in his face turned to a heavy throb, and he curled in on himself, holding his face, but immediately letting go. Touching it only made it worse, and he couldn't tell just how badly he was hurt. His entire face and head hurt, so he would have to wait until he was back at the school to find out. Unfortunately for him, he had felt one thing. Or a lack of one thing. And had he been fully conscious and aware of the implications, he might have been more horrified. Maybe he would have screamed.

He had no right eye. But now was not the time to dwell on that. He could panic later. Taking a deep breath, he kept himself calm.

He couldn't see the school from here, but based on the direction of the orange sky over Hogsmeade, he could hazard a guess, and so, he pushed up off his knees, and stood upright. The world wobbled for a moment as the blood rushed out of his head. Holding the tree next to him, he waited for the world to stop, and with stuttered steps, he headed for home.

He didn't get far. Three steps from the tree he had been holding and his legs gave out. The ground rushed forward, ready to pound his body with a painful blow, but a pair of powerful arms caught him as hooves came into view.

"Relax, Harry," said the Centaur. "You don't need to go anywhere for now."

Harry looked up into the face of Firenze, who had happened upon Harry only moments ago, and was watching the boy get awaken. Bane sent Firenze out to scour the area to make sure no goblins had made their way into the forest. The two groups did not hate each other, but there was certainly no love between them, and the forest was centaur domain, now and forever, in the minds of the horse-people.

"Firenze," Harry whispered. "My friends." He blinked slowly as he was set on his feet and supported by the centaur. "I have to get back to the school." He tried to start walking again, but the centaur held onto him, preventing his movement.

"Stay where you are Harry," the being spoke, his tone brooking no argument. He pulled out an arrow from his quiver, and raised the arrow head to his lips. He blew lightly, causing the tip to glow a strange red-orange. Knocking the arrow on his bow, he pulled the string back and fired into the trees. Fifty feet from them, the arrow flared out with a great shine of light, and transformed into a bird, which flapped its wings swiftly, and took off into the trees, weaving in and out of the trunks, heading deeper into the forest.

"Now, Harry, why don't we sit down and talk? I'll build a fire so you can get warm, and you can relax while we wait for the others to show up." Firenze led him slowly over to the clearing that Harry had woken up in, and pushed him down lightly into a seated position.

"Others?" inquired Harry. "Who's coming?" His head was still cloudy and he was having trouble thinking.

Firenze gave him a look as if it should be obvious, but realizing the likely state of Harry's head, the boy probably suffering from a concussion, he patiently explained, "The other centaurs are coming. They will search the area to see if there are any other students, but I doubt there are. I searched this area thoroughly, and you were getting up from the ground in the last place I was going to check before going back."

Harry just nodded, and watched as Firenze walked around the clearing gathering sticks, and tossing them into a pile. When he was done, the centaur walked over to the pile, and dropping to his knees, all four of them, he held a finger up to his mouth, and blew on it, a flame leaping up from the tip of it. He lowered it to the pile of sticks, and in seconds, there was a steady fire to which Harry was drawn for warmth.

After a few moments of getting warm by the fire, his head clearing a tiny bit, he turned to Firenze and asked, "How do you do that?"

"Do what? This?" The centaur held up a stick which he was whittling with a knife. "Well, it's pretty easy. You just take the knife and-

"No, no," interrupted Harry, waving his hand back and forth. "The thing where you blow on stuff and make magic."

Comprehension smeared across the centaur's face. "Ah, that's a very old form of harnessing and using magic, one that humans abandoned long ago in favor of the wand. We draw the magic directly from Mother Earth." He patted the ground next to him and gave it a little rub. "You see, in the early forms of magic, humans gathered the magic directly from the earth, just like we do. However, it was always more difficult for witches and wizards to do than it was for us centaurs and other magical creatures and beings. Humans have a magical core of their own," he explained, pointing towards Harry's chest, "and its very nature clashes slightly with that of the earth. So when the wand came along, a means of easily capturing and focusing the ambient earth energy, and putting it in sync with the magic within the wizard and witch, humans took to it swiftly."

Harry was fascinated. "Do people still know how to do it? Use the magic of the Earth?"

Firenze gave a half-shrug. "Very few people claim to be practitioners of the old ways, and even fewer, perhaps fifty in the entire world can actually do it." His face was forlorn as if it were a travesty that so few people could not perform this magic. "You see, over time, with the use of the wand, generation after generations slowly lost their connection with the earth magic, and so now, it is only maintained through the use of magic. In fact, that is what muggles are. Humans without a connection to the magic of the Earth."

Harry had more questions, but simply nodded, because he heard the sound of hooves coming closer, and Firenze stood to greet them. Harry's face began to throb painfully again, and he realized that it had stopped hurting during the discussion.

Bane trotted into the clearing, many other centaurs standing back amongst the trees. The lead centaur, giant mass of muscle and hair greeted Firenze, and took one look at Harry before exclaiming, "Goodness, boy! What the hell happened to you?"

"Bane!" scolded Firenze. "I didn't tell him yet. He didn't seem to notice."

"You didn't tell him? What were you doing, discussing philosophy?" the leader sneered.

Harry chuckled, bringing their eyes to him. "Yeah, sort of. He was giving me a run down on how magic worked, since I saw him use the Earth magic." Bane glanced at Firenze and looked ready to say something, but Harry continued. "And if you're talking about the fact that I'm missing an eye, I know. But my whole head hurts really badly, and I'm trying not to think about the fact that I'm only going to see half the world now." The horror of the situation was beginning to set in, and he was trying not to start crying, because he wasn't sure how bad that would hurt in his empty socket.

"I wouldn't worry too much about your eye Harry. They have magical replacements," said Firenze. "In fact, unless I'm mistaken, you had a professor that has one of those, am I right?"

Harry was tempted to correct him and explain that the man had been an imposter, but feeling better about his prospects already, he just nodded.

Bane spoke again. "It's more than that. You're skin looks like it's hanging on your face instead of actually being attached to it. You're probably going to have serious scarring." He shook his head. Despite his austere visage and attitude when it came to dealing with wizards, he could be very caring and sympathetic, and he pitied the young boy right now. "Wizard medicine can fix that to an extent, but if it was goblin magic, you had better start facing the truth that you're not going to be very pretty anymore."

The black-haired boy didn't say anything, he just sat there. It wasn't so much that he was attached to his looks that made him upset, but the lingering force of years of verbal abuse still left him with lingering self-esteem issues. He was worried that Luna would forget him, and move on the next guy. Not to mention the rest of Wizarding society. Good looks got you places in this world, as much as he hated that fact, and a portion of the support he gathered was from young witches who saw him in magazines. Sure, this all sounded a bit narcissistic on the outside, but really, it was just the truth, and Harry was too smart to ignore these facts.

"Well, I'll deal with these things when I get back to the school. If one of you wouldn't mind accompanying me to the edge of the forest, I should be able to make it to the grounds okay." Harry made this request while he stood up and started walking in the direction the school should be. He also decided not to speak anymore, because now that Bane had pointed it out, he could feel his skin moving strangely and loosely when he spoke, and he feared it slipping straight off his head if he said too much.

A large roan centaur stepped into his path, and impeded the green-eyed youth's progress. "Sorry youngling, you're not going anywhere tonight. There are some things we need to discuss."

Harry sighed. "Look, I can come back some other time, but I really need go get back. In case you haven't noticed," he said, his tone clearly mocking the centaur, "my _face_ is falling off. Now if you'd kindly remove your hefty body from my path, I'll make my way back by myself, since you're all afraid of the boogie man."

The centaur refused to move, leveled a look at the impatient and injured form of the Boy-Who-Lived.

Becoming cocky and foolish in his exasperation, Harry exclaimed, "Fine! I'll move you then." His hand grabbed for the holster on his wrist, but found nothing. He immediately turned his face to the ground, searching for the magical stick amongst the brush, tapping his pockets to check if he had misplaced it, which made no sense. That hardly mattered, because it was better safe than sorry. Not finding it, he dropped to the ground, shoving aside leaves and pine needles, dirt and sticks, frantic and beginning to fully panic over the fact that he had no means of doing magic. His wand, the very thing that made him whole, was gone.

"Harry…"

The boy continued digging around, his breathing getting heavier, hands getting sorer with every swipe of debris.

"Harry."

He moved over to where he had woken up to see if perhaps he had dropped it when he landed. Not finding anything, he thought that maybe it had fallen out when he was flying through the air, and started to walk through the trees back toward the town.

"HARRY!"

He started and turned to see Firenze delicately holding a snapped twig. Utter dread filled the boy's soul as he feared the worst, but he refused to let himself believe the truth. Heaving his feet from the underbrush and shuffling slowly over to the centaur that had once saved him in this forest years ago, he saw the truth of it.

There in his hands were three broken pieces of a wand, hollow as if there had never been any sort of core inside of it, which gave Harry a moment of hope. "Look, there's not phoenix feather! That's not my-

"It is yours, Harry. I'm sorry." Firenze shook his head sadly. "Humans know very little about our magic, but we know much about theirs. When a wand is broken in a violent manner, it is not uncommon for the core to destroy itself from the disturbance. It takes a lot of force to destroy a wand, and it is almost always a force of magic." He handed Harry the shards of wood, and the boy took them, staring at the very thing that had saved his life on so many occasions. The one instrument that signified that he was a wizard, and not just a no-good, money-draining burden was gone. "The magic inside of the wand has built up from being used so many times, and a wand actually gets stronger as a wizard ages, using it more and more." He shuffled a hoof, cuffing the ground. "The amount of usage your wand has gotten in the last four and a half years meant it was loaded, and very difficult to break. However, that goblin spell, combined with the harsh landing was enough of a disturbance to it that when it broke open, the energy must have turned in on itself, destroying the core."

Harry nodded in acceptance, having not been paying much attention, but still catching the gist of it.

"This is, of course, all conjecture," said Bane. "Either way though, your wand is gone. And you're unlikely to find a replacement." His eyes held great sympathy for the boy. A wizard losing their wand was a great injustice and a terrible time in that wizard's life. "You still have your newly found ability."

Harry looked up at him, eyes wide, wondering how in the world he knew such a thing.

Bane let out a deep chuckle. "We spend many years divining the stars, young Potter. I, among us all, have studied them most extensively. That's how I became leader. There is nothing the stars won't tell us, so when it spoke of the rediscovery of a great and lost power, I looked to other signs that had been showing themselves at the time, and I figured out which power, and to whom it would go." He smirked. He was clearly proud of his ability. Harry had to say, though, he might have been the same way if he could do such a thing.

And the centaur's news did make him feel better about his current situation. It was true that he still had The Touch, but he was now severely limited in what he could do, since using it was still strenuous, and he no longer had a wand.

"There's just… one more thing," Firenze said in a low voice, afraid to say it, for he knew the consequences. "The moon child, she…"

Harry was confused, not picking up on the nickname. He was still a little bit groggy. "The moon child?"

"Ah, the blond girl you have attached yourself to. Luna?" Harry nodded in understanding, and made the connection to the moon reference.

"What about her? Is she alright?"

There was a shuffle in the crowd of centaurs, and Firenze pursed his lips. "Well, you see, when you were hit, it blasted you out of the battle and into the forest." He waved his hand in a half-circle to signify the area surrounding them. "Unfortunately, your friends were not so lucky. Most of them were injured badly. Luna, however…" he shook his head and Harry leapt up and grabbed the centaurs arm.

"What? WHAT! Tell me what happened!" Harry was shaking the horse-man's arm as hard as he could, eyes wide, brimming with tears, desperate for answers.

Firenze simply shook his head and grabbed Harry's hand. From the crowd, and elderly sounding centaur spoke. "She's dead my boy. Killed by those savage goblins, your girl is departed."

And he stopped. A wind-up toy that had run out of coil. He went limp as a ragdoll, unable to move. The tears in his eyes refused to fall, clinging to his eyeballs in some last ditch attempt to ignore what he'd been told. He started shaking his head, slowly, numbly, in a state of barely concealed shock.

"Yes, Harry. I'm sorry but it's true," said Firenze, not wanting to see the boy slip into foolish denial that would only build him up for a harder fall later.

The Boy-Who-Lived-to-have-his-heart-broken just turned away from the centaurs and shuffled off into the forest, in the exact opposite direction of the school. Bane looked to his right and nodded at one of the younger and smaller centaurs, and the scout slipped into the trees, off to keep track of the boy hero.

The herd of centaurs started to move, planning to head back to their little village deep within the trees when they heard loud roar, the sound of a throat tearing itself apart in rage and grief, followed quickly by a violent explosion, wood splintering chaotically. There was silence for a moment, and then the dull, rhythmic _thud thud_ of fists on a tree.

Firenze started to move, planning to go into the trees and find the boy, preventing him from this self destruction, but the elder centaur that had spoken earlier stopped him and shook his head, explaining, "Let him get it out. Better he injure himself now in ways that we can heal, than for him to bottle it up and injure himself, and possibly others, in ways that no one can fix."

The centaurs began moving back into the trees, heading for home and leaving a heart broken boy to deal with his grief in peace.

----

The student body of Hogwarts was devastated by the attacks. Not so much in numbers, but in morale. Not only did they now know that another Goblin war had started, but a fair number of students had been hurt or killed in the battle, whether it was from explosions, or collapsing buildings, or even direct attacks from the Death Eaters and goblins. Parents were streaming in from across the country to retrieve their dead children, and sounds of horrified and anguished cries could be heard echoing in the halls of the school.

The Headmaster made plans to have a large memorial and funeral service, and any parents who wished to have their child buried somewhere on the grounds of Hogwarts, including at the bottom of the lake (thanks to an agreement with the merpeople), it could be done. Students from the PDC who had been battling, and those caught in the surprise attack near the gates were all being treated in the Hospital Wing, with some Healers from Saint Mungo's working at the school for the time being. Students who weren't in the PDC were also being treated, but if they didn't have major injuries and could recover in their own dorms, they were asked to do so. Most went without complaint.

The Great Hall was decked in black at meal times, and the noise rarely got very loud, because everyone was still in shock and there was a lot of comforting happening. The total number of deaths was about 50, about half of those coming from the Practical Defense Club. Hannah Abbot, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Wayne Hopkins, and a girl named Megan Jones were all killed from Hufflepuff. Susan Bones was utterly destroyed when she heard the news about Hannah, since the girl was her best friend. Others in that house were injured as well, so everyone was heartbroken.

From Ravenclaw, it was Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe, found together near Madam Puddifoot's. A petite Asian girl named Su Li was found near the bookstore, the bodies of 5 goblins around her. She had gone down fighting, striking down her enemies with a raging fury the likes of which were unmatched on the battlefield that day. Stories of her feats would be spoken of for years to come, because already, students were passing words to each other about how valiantly she fought. Roger Davies had been killed too, and the Quidditch team was absolutely heart-broken because of this. He was their captain, and he was also well respected in the House. There was one more death from Ravenclaw, but it was not directly from the battle.

Slytherin also suffered some losses, because they too were involved in the PDC. Blaise Zabini, as well as a couple of the older and younger students from Slytherin House, was killed, and the feeling from the snakes was harder to determine, but behind closed doors, they were saddened. Of course, some, like those sympathetic to the Death Eater cause, were less upset about it, but to say such a thing would make them look as if they had no tact or decorum.

Gryffindor was hit the hardest. The twins came out okay, but their longtime friend Lee Jordan did not. His body was cleaved in half at the waist from a strike by a goblin. The twins were making no jokes, and hardly showed their faces except at breakfast and dinner. Poor Colin Creevey had been one of the early casualties, killed by a Death Eater before the goblins had even made their entrance. Little Dennis Creevey hadn't spoken to anyone, and he looked so devastatingly lost without his older brother. Most people didn't know this, but they were actually orphans that had managed to stay together in the aftermath of the death of their parents. Now, Dennis was all alone, and no one seemed to notice.

Dean Thomas was gone, and Seamus was angry. He was raging on the inside, and if anyone had asked him, he'd be screaming for blood. Blood of the Death Eaters, blood of the goblins, it didn't matter. So long as he could avenge his friend, he would be satisfied. He wouldn't stop until then. Lavender and Parvati had been found in Gladrags, one of the buildings that had collapsed. They'd been standing amongst the racks, looking at clothes when the walls shifted and buckled, the ceiling coming down on them. The goblins had exploded from a hole right near the building, and the ground had given way. Not the most glorious of deaths, but still painful none-the-less. Neville was deeply hurt by Lavender's death, because the poor boy had a crush on her, and was hoping to take it somewhere. And it was the death of Parvati that lead to the other Ravenclaw death.

Within three hours of the battle being over, Padma Patil committed suicide. She had known the moment that Parvati was dead, and from there, it was a downhill spiral. Most of the time, when a twin dies, the other can survive without them, no matter how painful it is. There are, however, some occasions when twins have such a strong bond that the loss of a twin is literally like losing the other half of them. Their magic is connected, and they feel the death of their twin more powerfully than can be explained in words. The Weasley Twins would be another such pair.

Padma had calmly left the Ravenclaw common room, telling her friends that she just needed some air to clear her head. Heading down to the kitchens, she asked the elves for a butter knife. Had she asked for a steak knife, or something equally harmful, she would have gotten questions, which she did not need. Ever eager to please, the elves gave her what she wanted, and she went on her way. Heading into the dungeons where she was unlikely to be seen with all of the nooks and crannies and dark corridors, she hid in a little alcove. Using her wand, she sharpened the knife to look like the steak knife she had originally wanted. She then lengthened it to make sure it would reach what she wanted it to. Putting her wand away, she grabbed the handle with both hands, whispered, "I love you Parvati, I'm coming for you," and plunged the knife into her chest. Over and over again she did this, as many times as she could before her body gave out and refused to work anymore.

A Slytherin prefect found her about an hour later during rounds, and by midnight, Hogwarts was struck with sorrow one more time, and the Patil parents became childless.

---

The sun pierced Harry's eyelids, and brought him back to life. His face felt tight, so he reached a hand up and felt cloth covering most of his head. There was none covering his eyes, nose or mouth, that way he could see and breathe.

"We cleaned out the wounds and put bandages on so that you wouldn't get an infection."

The voice was muffled, and after a moment, Harry realized it was because his ears were covered with bandages. His fingers started grabbing and pulling at the bandages, but the voice stopped him.

"Don't do that." Harry finally turned to see who was speaking, and it was a young male centaur. When he turned around to look, he was finally able to see where he was. Spread out in a wide clearing were large tents, made up of thick tree trunks and animal skins. The forest surrounding the clearing was very thick, and despite the sun's presence, Harry couldn't see more than perhaps ten feet into the dense foliage.

In what one might call a village, there were female centaurs, covered with leather clothing, and foals, following around their mothers or brothers or sisters or fathers, helping out with chores and other such activities, getting ready for the day. Harry didn't think there was enough room to fit the centaurs he saw yesterday, let alone their families. He asked about it.

"Well first, my name is Lorien, so you can call me that. Second, there is another little village about a hundred meters from here through the trees that way." He pointed to the West, and said, "If you look over the trees, you can see some smoke."

Harry nodded, but he wasn't saying much of anything. So Lorien continued on. "There's some breakfast near the fire at the center of the village if you want some. We can go in a few minutes." Harry nodded again. The young centaur said, "After that, we can figure out who's going to take you back to Hogwarts, and when you're leaving here. It takes about an hour to get through the forest to the grounds."

"I'm not going back," replied the black haired boy. "I don't even have my wand. There is nothing I can do there anymore, and it's the last place I want to be right now. They can survive without me."

Lorien's face was full of surprise. "Are you sure that's a good idea? They must all be very worried about you. There are sure to be search parties coming here soon enough looking for you. They need you, Harry Potter, you can't just abandon them. You need to go back!"

He'd had enough. Harry pushed himself up and stood face to face with Lorien. Well, face to chest, but he was looking the centaur in the eyes. "For my entire life, I have done what is asked of me. I've done what needs to be done, rather than what I want to do. I've always gone back because it was my home, but also because my presence there meant something to people. Well I don't care anymore!" He slashed the air with his hand, fed up with the troubles he had to face constantly. "Maybe I'll go back someday, but not today, and not tomorrow either. You don't have to let me stay here, but I'm not going back to Hogwarts."

The twenty year old centaur asked, "What will we say when the wizards come looking for you? What should we tell them if they ask about you?"

"Tell them Harry Potter is dead. Tell them you found my body torn to shreds and the only sign that it was me was the severed head next to it." His voice was oddly detached, as if he'd thought this over already. As if he didn't care if it really happened.

"And if they want your head as proof?"

"You buried it. You'll think of something. After all, even if you tell them where it is, and they go looking for it, they won't find it. They might think something in this wicked forest took off with it. Hell, tell them it's near Aragog's nest, and they won't even bother searching. I really don't care." He was pointing at the centaur now, but Lorien looked unimpressed. He wanted to tell the horse-man not to sell him out, but refrained.

Nevertheless, the centaur nodded and said, "Very well, I'll speak to Bane and the elders about your wishes, and see what they wish to do. You'll know of their decision by the time you finish eating breakfast. They are likely to have already seen this in the stars and come to a decision. Perhaps not. It's difficult to tell with these kinds of things." Lorien turned away, and took two steps when he stopped again. "And Harry, despite the rocky relations between wizards and centaurs, you are well liked by our herd." At the boy's look of confusion he said, "Don't bother asking why. It's a very long story, and has more to do with the future than it does with the past or present. The important point to remember is that we would never betray you to anyone. Even Dumbledore. We have more honor than that."

By the time Harry realized that he hadn't actually told Lorien about not wanting to be revealed and thrust back to Hogwarts, the young adult centaur was already half way across the village on his way to the meeting hall.

Harry decided to make his way slowly over to the fire to find some food, and as he approached, a tall, muscular female saw him and handed him a prepared plate of eggs and venison with some greens, saving him the effort of having to ask. "Thanks," he said, getting a nod in response.

He wondered briefly how long he would be here, before he remembered why he was choosing not to go back, and his hunger started to wane again.

----

Lorien trotted up to the door of the meeting hall, and could hear Bane and the elders speaking inside. He knocked once, twice, three times, and the voices quieted, and Bane called out, "Come."

The young centaur stepped through the door and his glanced over the room once before speaking four words. "It worked. He's staying."

There was a murmur of approval that spread through the centaurs, and the leader said, "Good. Now to see how long it takes for him to request learning the old ways. Hopefully, it won't take more than a few days." He wrote something on a piece of parchment in front of him, and then rolled it up and handed it to the centaur to his right. "After all," he chuckled, his face breaking into a grin, "we have a war to win."

---

In the Hogwarts Hospital Wing, a girl with bright blond hair tossed and turned in her sleep, dreaming of a boy with black hair and emerald eyes.

A/N: Okay, there it is, Chapter 17. I'm going to do my best to keep up this pace with the updates, but it might be difficult. And if I hit a slow spot with this story, I'll update 'From the Shadows' so that I'm still doing some sort of updating. If there is something contradictory, don't be afraid to point it out. Being away from the story for as long as I was made me forget some things, but I'm sure in time I'll remember them. Thanks again for reading!


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Thanks to those of you who have hung around and not abandoned reading the story, and continue to review. I really appreciate it. I also got a flood of alerts for my other story, which really surprised me, but spurred me toward wanting to work on that one as well. Life is really busy right now, and I have hardly any time for myself between work, school, and extra personal studying I'm doing, but I appreciate the patience. Here's the next chapter.

Lucius Malfoy made his way slowly through the halls of the house in Little Hangleton. He'd requested a meeting with the Dark Lord, because these days, if you weren't one of his favorites, you didn't get to see him. And unfortunately for Lucius, he was not a favorite anymore. Not since he'd lost all his money. Luckily, he was slowly but surely making some of it back, and he had told his son that they would soon be returned to glory.

On top of that, some of the most fortuitous news had been relayed to the world today, and the Death Eaters had been partying ever since. Harry Potter was dead. Apparently, the boy had died from wounds inflicted by a goblin, and the centaurs had buried him deep in the forest. There was something strange about that story for anyone who really thought about it, but most people were preoccupied. Half the Wizarding world mourned the loss of the boy, but the other half had turned their backs on him in the wake of the goblin attack and the deaths of their children. Many of them blamed him for bringing this upon the Wizarding world, and were glad that he was dead.

Lucius, of course, being the sly man he was, saw this as an amazing opportunity to unite wizards everywhere against the common enemy. Under Voldemort, of course. Things had turned bad for people lately, because, with the lack of funds, the economy was tanking. Most business was done on credit, and the value of gold was plummeting, inflation running amok.

Despite the blond man's personal beliefs about muggles and muggleborns, he was not without education. He studied the past across a vast swath of categories and subjects, and had seen how people flock to a leader in times of hardship if said leader can guide them in the right direction, against the right people.

Reaching the door, he saw flickering light coming from under the door, fire likely lit inside on this cold autumn night. His hand knocked lightly on the door, and the shuffle of feet could be heard, before the door was pulled open by Bellatrix Lestrange, who gave him a cutesy smile. Behind the smile though, he could see her disgust and disdain. Had he his power still, he might have cursed her for it. Now, however, because of his position, that would be seen as a direct attack on the Dark Lord, and he would likely be killed for it.

"Well, Luciussss?" came the raspy, serpentine voice of the Dark Lord from his chair in front of the fire. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Lucius quickly walked over to Voldemort and knelt down to kiss the man's feet, showing full submission in order to make the best impression possible. "Thank you for taking time to see me, my lord. It is greatly appreciated it," he said, keeping his eyes on the floor.

"Lord Voldemort is not unkind, Lucius. Stand, and tell me what you have to say." Voldemort waved his hand and Lucius came to his feet, looking at his lord. The man seemed to glow with some unimaginable force, as if magic itself were in cahoots with him.

"Well, my lord, I've been studying the current political climate, and I think I may have a way to speed up your plans." Voldemort raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, waiting for the blond man to continue. "There would be certain facets of your overall goal that would have to be put on hold for the time being, but I personally feel that the pay off for this would be massive."

The Dark Lord looked none too happy with such a prospect, but with his eyes squinted, he told the man in front of him, "I'm listening."

So Lucius laid it out. "Well, my lord, what do you know of Adolf Hitler?"

In a moment, Voldemort's face was like a lit Christmas tree, jagged and sharp teeth shining in the firelight, ruby orbs glowing in their sockets.

The senior Malfoy couldn't be sure, but he suspected that he had just witnessed the moment his luck turned.

---

A week had passed in the forest for Harry Potter, and a myriad of things had happened. To begin with, the school and the government had sent numerous search parties into the forest, all of them looking for the boy. None of them ever reached the centaur village, because they had no idea where it was, but they were told that he was dead by the centaurs anyways.

The humans didn't believe them at first, and came back a three times within a week, before they finally gave up. The paper that came out the next day explained why the search might have ended. Lorien brought Harry the _Daily Prophet _after breakfast on a Monday, in the middle of November. The centaurs had long ago set up a delivery of the newspaper to the forest via owl so that they could keep abreast of the specifics. Divination was for grand events and general ideas.

When Harry was given the paper, he read it. And he was horrified. It vilified him. It made him look like the entire war had been his fault, completely disregarding the transgressions of the goblins against him. The public opinion had turned sour, and apparently, Harry Potter was no longer everyone's favorite wizard.

It was worse. The man they looked to for leadership now was none other than old lizard-lips himself, Voldemort. It appeared that he had toned down the anti-muggle and muggleborn rhetoric, and turned it on the goblins, who were now the common enemy of all. Voldemort also seemed to make conflicting statements about Harry, telling crowds in one sentence that Harry had valiantly fought to fight off the goblin foe, giving up his life for the continuation of the Wizarding world, while in the next, claiming that it was people like him and Dumbledore who were to blame for all the deaths.

Dumbledore was losing steam quickly as well, due to the fact that he had not stopped Harry in his actions, even if he had never openly endorsed what the boy was doing.

The Boy-Who-Lived was not exactly sure what was happening, or why, but he was dead now. At least, that's what everyone thought. And so because of that, he could do nothing. In truth, though, he didn't really want to do anything. He was missing Luna, and he was heart-broken over the deaths from the battle. Deep down inside of him, there were the beginnings of a feeling, the idea that despite how much he hated being blamed for all the deaths and the trouble with the goblins, it might be true. Of course, he could make the claim that the moment the goblins had allowed thievery they had broken the treaty of old and essentially declared war. It didn't change the fact that there were ways to handle the situation better.

He tried to figure out how he had gotten swept up in the winds of revenge that had clouded his mind. There were ways to have vengeance against one's foes, without being blind, and diving in like a maniac. That's what he needed to do. He needed to clear his head. Discover exactly what his goals were, and then figure out how to achieve them.

But in the mean time, he had to earn his keep in the centaur camp, and he had been. On his second morning there, since he was given the first to rest, he got up, face still covered in bandages, and went to Lorien to ask what needed to be done. What could he help with? The young stallion pointed him in the direction of a mother and foal who were hauling wood from just inside the tree line to the far end of the village. "Go ahead and give them a hand," he told Harry. "Let them know that I sent you over, and that you're there to help them."

Harry nodded and started heading over, but his new found acquaintance called out to him, and he stopped.

"Remember, Harry! Not only are you still weak from being injured, but you're also a human. You're nowhere near as physically powerful as a centaur, even a foal. That may change with time, but for right now, take it easy. Only lift what you can, and don't try for any more." When Harry nodded in acknowledgement, Lorien gave a last wave, and trotted off toward the meeting hall.

And so Harry helped the mother and foal haul chopped logs from inside the thick trees, to a wide open space on the opposite side of the living area. He was only able to carry one log at a time, while the mother could carry four, and the foal could carry two. Each log was about thirty pounds, very dense. He spent the mornings doing this activity, although it was not always the mother and foal. He often made small talk with the whoever was lugging the wood, asking about things ranging in importance from what they had eaten, to what the stars showed for the future, or how exactly the centaur magic worked. He was becoming increasingly interested in this, because he was now realizing that without his wand, he was severely limited.

The afternoons consisted of exercise and meditation. He ran around the village for a half an hour, and then he would sit and meditate. One day, a younger female centaur, brown with white splotches, and beautiful flowing blond hair stood before him and asked, "What are you doing, human?" They tended to call him human, rather than Harry, but he couldn't figure out why. Maybe it was just the sort of thing they did.

"I'm practicing Occlumency. It helps me keep my mind clear and focused, and it helps me block Voldemort from getting in my mind," he explained, tapping his temple.

Her eyes widened slightly in alarm, and her voice came out in a whisper. "The Dark One can enter your mind?"

He laughed nervously, understanding what it sounded like. "No, no," he assured her, waving his hands back and forth. "It's more like I can feel his emotions, and sometimes I get visions of what he's doing, but it hurts my scar," he told her, touching his forehead. "Seeing people get tortured and die is not exactly fun when you're trying to get a good night's sleep."

Her fear was gone, and it was replaced by a familiar look. One he had come to severely dislike.

"Don't pity me," Harry commanded her, shaking his head. "Yeah, my life sucks sometimes, but I'm also rich. And sure, that doesn't make for a happy life, since I've got a madman after my head, and the entire Wizarding world turning on me, but when this is all over, I can afford to disappear if I want. That's what it means." He was looking solemnly at the ground, playing with a handful of snow from what had fallen in the night. "I can leave this country, and never come back. I'm a very capable wizard, and all I've got to do now is figure out a way to fix my wand problem, and that's that." He looked up at her and gave her a big smile, to which she responded with a soft laugh and a promise.

"Well, if you ever need something," she offered, "and I can give it, I promise to do my best to help you." She held a hand down to him. "Deal?"

Harry took the proffered hand, and shook. "Deal."

His evenings were spent helping the centaurs make dinner in any way possible. If they needed something gathered from the gardens, he did it. If they wanted him to chop herbs or carrots or some other ingredient, he did it. If they wanted him to stand at a pot and stir non-stop for ten minutes, he did that too. His arm was sore by the end of that, of course, but one, it built muscle, and two it was the least he could do.

He helped serve the centaurs when it was time for dinner, and he was served last, being human. However, he always had more than enough to fill himself. The food was usually some sort of animal meat, whether it was deer, bird, or some other creature that Harry had no interest learning existed in the forest. Often times it was made in a stew, allowing a medium amount of meat for the number of bodies, to go a long way. There was also a salad of nuts and berries, as well as leafy greens. In the forest, between the two villages, was a vast expanse of land that held a garden. It served a couple of purposes. The first, and most important, was that if provided food for the two villages.

It was sectioned off into different sections, one holding root vegetables, another holding things like lettuce and broccoli, a third with trees for fruit, and so on. Harry learned one day, when he was sent to gather food there, that a sort of invisible line had been agreed upon, which split the garden in half between the villages. It wasn't a strictly enforced line, and if one side had a shortage for some reason, they could take from the other side. However, in the interest of keeping things fair and balanced, each village respected this boundary.

Harry had been walking through the garden, looking for some broccoli, and while he had seen some good plants to pick from so far, he wanted to find the perfect on to prove his worth. His eyes on the ground, he didn't see the centaur watching him from the other side. Harry did, however, hear him.

"Hey!" came the shout. It was a calm call, but it had the undertone of 'Listen to me.' Harry looked up and the centaur nodded his head to the side, saying "Look to your left."

Harry looked, and saw the garden. He heard, "Now look to your right."

He looked a second time, and again, he saw more of the garden. The centaur answered his question before he could ask. "Everything behind you, following the line you just saw, is for your village." And with that, the centaur turned, hands full of beets, and walked away.

The boy with the healing facial scars asked about the situation at dinner, and it was explained to him. It made sense, of course, but it also surprised him a bit. Out in the forest, the centaurs seemed to act as one, but here in the villages, it was like they were two groups completely. It was yet another thing that Harry couldn't quite figure out, and put down as 'the way things are.'

The second benefit for the garden was that it gave the two villages a way to access each other without having to travel through the forest. This was especially important for the young ones, who might have friends in the other village. An adult centaur could travel through the forest no problem, but a foal was easy prey for some of the beasts in the darkness. And oftentimes, there were no adults who had the time to accompany them to go and play.

----

At Hogwarts, Severus Snape had been speaking with Minerva McGonagall quite often. The two of them felt, much to their own chagrin, that Dumbledore may be losing sight of what was important. He had allowed Harry to run free, and despite the fact that they liked the boy (for Severus, it was more that he didn't dislike him), the Boy-Who-Lived had run too far, too fast. It was because of the boy's sudden freedom and lack of understanding about how this world works, that the goblins had attacked, the Wizarding world found itself at war again and Voldemort was gaining power.

The two professors, along with the help of other staff, had organized an extra-curricular defense program that Dumbledore had wanted, and that was similar to the one Harry had started, in order to prepare the students for the possibility of war at the schools gates. Within 24 hours of the first meeting of this group, which all students had to attend, the ministry was making official inquiries.

They wanted to know who was running it, what was being taught, and more importantly _why_ it was being taught. Dumbledore, proving he still had some semblance of trickery and clear headedness left in him, told the ministry that it was to fight the goblins. The students were being trained in strategy and magic, coming to understand the best way to turn a difficult situation to your favor. For example, if they should ever find themselves in a tunnel facing a goblin, they would know how to utilize their surroundings to defeat their enemies, while making sure they didn't die from a giant rock dropping on their heads.

Granted, there would be far more than that being taught in this group, but it was enough to placate the Ministry for the time being.

The Ministry was another issue that was a major problem for men like Dumbledore. It was turning more and more to supporting the PWP, or the People's Wizarding Party, as Voldemort had taken to calling his group. His cause.

Lucius Malfoy was almost back to his position of prestige that he had been at before his money was stolen away. For one thing, his plan for Voldemort's rise to power and popularity had been a major success. The man now had followers from all walks of Wizarding life. Dumbledore and his ilk were proving a bit of an obstacle, but the man's long-time support of the Boy-Who-Lived was proving to be a problem for the light side. Many of the citizens who had suffered losses at the hands of goblins were angry that the Headmaster had given Harry the freedom to do what he wished, and as such, had turned to the person who would grant them the vengeance they desired.

It was an amazingly quick gathering of power, for within a single week, people seemed to have forgotten the fact that this was once the man who had terrorized them and killed their families. It was almost unreal. Had the conundrum been put forth to one of these people, they would likely have said, "Yes, I know. But there are times when one must let bygones be bygones in order to fight the real threat."

Most people didn't know why they were so willing to support this megalomaniac, but they seemed to enjoy his public speeches. He gave four of them within the first week after the Battle of Hogsmeade, as it had been named. Voldemort had also managed to make it look like his Death Eaters had been in Hogsmeade with the purpose of a pre-emptive counter attack on the goblins, rather than an attack of their own.

It was also a real problem for Amelia Bones. Her political opponent for the coming election was a staunch supporter of Voldemort, and where he had originally been keeping quiet about that association, he was now being more vocal in his ideology, and the Dark Lord was backing him, essentially guaranteeing him the position of Minister of Magic.

Lucius was stunned at the speed with which this all happened, but he was also aware of the fact that his Lord was a great tactician, and he was confident that there was a perfectly good reason for what was happening. Now, however, Lucius was to meet with the Dark Lord, but for what, he was unsure.

With a knock, he opened the door to find Lord Voldemort sitting at a table with Bellatrix on his right, and Pettigrew on his left.

"Lucius, how nice of you to join us. Have a seat," said Voldemort.

Lucius sat, after bowing first, and glanced at Bellatrix, who seemed more somber than usual, but had a smirk on her face never the less. Pettigrew was still shaking in his boots, but that seems to be _modus operandi_ for him. "My lord, how may I serve you?"

"Harry Potter is still alive." Lord Voldemort had his hands touching at the fingers in a gesture eerily similar to that of Dumbledore, but the blond certainly didn't notice, because his brain had stopped. Just for a moment though.

He started laughing, and said, "I'm sorry my lord… haha… I thought you said," he gasped for air, "that Harry potter was still alive!"

"CRUCIO!"

The floor echoed with a thud as the elder Malfoy fell out of his chair and rolled around, screaming in agony under the curse of his master. After a moment, the curse was lifted, and he remained on the floor, unable to move. The words of his master reached his ears anyways.

"If you ever laugh at me again, it will be your life, rather than your comfort, that is forfeit. Now get up!" The Dark Lord was fuming. If there was one thing he hated, it was being laughed at. And while he knew that Malfoy hadn't intended it to be disrespectful or even directed at him, it didn't matter. This was serious. He watched as the man crawled back in his seat, trying to look dignified in front of Bella. "Now, let me try this again. Harry Potter is alive. I know this, because I have an informant inside the Forbidden Forest near Hogwarts, and said informant has seen the boy."

"What are we going to do then my Lord?" asked the blond, after taking a moment to process the new information.

"For now? Nothing. My informant is working on a plan that he believes will effectively neutralize Potter when the time comes, but until then, I want you to prepare a force of the finest Death Eaters that will be able to march into the forest and kill the boy if the plan fails." He was purposely leaving out the fact that he was the only one that could kill the boy, afraid of what sort of questions that would lead to and what it might mean. "Are we understood?"

Lucius nodded, and with that, he was dismissed. He went home and headed immediately for his office to spend time figuring out who would be best suited for an excursion into the forest. The first and only name that came to mind at the moment was Fenrir, the werewolf, so he wrote to the beast, and then started working on a list of potentials. He had no idea about the time restraints and knowing the Dark Lord, he could be asked tomorrow for that group to be prepared. With no time to lose, Lucius got to work.

A/N: Not a whole lot goes on in this chapter, because it's more of a set up, but next chapter will start with a slight time skip, and there will be some action, so stick around. I had most of this chapter done and sitting in a file on my computer, so I finished it up and decided to post it. Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know! Thanks.


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